A northwestern Forsyth County woman whose cat was recently shot with an arrow has a message for residents who may have issues with their neighbors’ animals.

“If you’ve got a problem with someone’s pet, go to the person that owns the pet,” Carol Fore said. “Don’t do something that violent.”

Fore’s year-old black cat Little Smoky is at home and taking medicine while he heals from his wound, which she discovered earlier this week.

“I guess it’s like they say, cats have nine lives and he really used his first one,” Fore said.

She reported the incident to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office and was told patrols in the area of Hightower Circle, where she lives, would be increased.

Sheriff’s Capt. Frank Huggins said that whoever shot the arrow, if caught, could be charged with cruelty to animals, which is a felony.

Fore said she rescued Smoky about a year ago from a nearby convenience store. He had always stayed outside, but now she’ll keep him indoors for his safety.

“It’s just sad that someone would hurt a kitten,” she said.

Fore made the discovery Monday morning when leaving her north Forsyth home for work.

“I still can’t hardly talk about it, but I walked out there and he was laying belly down on the ground and there was an arrow going straight through his back,” Fore said. “I about flipped out.”

She said she took a rag and pulled out the practice-tipped arrow. They then went to a veterinarian, who told her the cat would have died if she hadn’t found him when she did.

Fore said there are no children in her neighborhood, but she thinks someone who lives near her shot the cat. She and her son are considering finding somewhere else to live.

“Anybody that will take a bow and arrow and put it through a cat, it’s scary,” she said.