Arrowed!

Vista man to stand trial in killing of neighbor's cat
August 21, 2007

VISTA – A Vista man must stand trial this fall for allegedly shooting a former neighbor's cat to death with two arrows.

A judge Monday set an an Oct. 9 trial date for Robert Eugene Brunner, 47, who is charged with two counts of animal cruelty in the death of Bill, a 3-year-old orange tabby.

A woman testified in pre-trial proceedings that Brunner said he fired at the feline because it was “pissing all over” his yard on Plymouth Drive.

The woman said she was waiting in a trailer where Brunner lived while he fixed her car on the night of April 9, 2006, and he came in muttering that a cat was stuck to a tree and he had to get it off before the property owner saw it.

She conceded she never saw the cat or the tree, but witnessed the defendant digging up a palm tree later that night.

A 10-year-old boy testified that he spotted Bill, with the arrows still embedded in the animal, in a neighbor's yard on April 12 last year and notified the owner, Janeen Bubien.

The arrows were surgically removed, but the cat died two days later.

Brunner has already been found civilly liable for the feline's death. After he was sued by Bubien, the case was settled for $2,500, and a judge added $5,000 to the settlement to help the woman move away.