Deputies: Lancaster suspects repeatedly shot cat with BB gun

Two men were charged in connection with the death of a cat that they repeatedly shot with a BB gun, according to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.

Grant Payton Bodison, 19, of Simpsonville and Joshua Allen Kiser, 19, of Aiken were charged with ill treatment of animals, according to officials. They were charged in connection with the Sept. 10 death of a feral cat at a home where they are staying.

Lancaster County deputies and animal control officers began investigating after receiving a tip through Crime Stoppers, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Doug Barfield said.

The alleged death happened at a home in the 1500 block of John Everall Road, and some of the residents of the home are students at the University of South Carolina at Lancaster. Bodison and Kiser are students at USC Lancaster, which conducted a parallel investigation.

According to statements obtained during the investigation, the feral cat was a nuisance to residents there because it rummaged through their garbage, Barfield said. The cat appeared as the residents were cooking out on Sept. 10.

Bodison shot at and struck the cat with a BB gun, Barfield said. Kiser then also shot at the cat with the BB pistol, he said, but it did not kill the animal.

“Another person at the residence saw the cat was injured and apparently suffering and dispatched the cat by hand,” Barfield said. “The cat was buried on the property.”

An animal control officer recovered the cat’s body and took it to a veterinary clinic, he said, where X-rays revealed two BBs in the cat’s body.

“This was a senseless and unfortunate event,” Sheriff Barry Faile said. “I hope these young men learn something from the negative consequences that have and will result from this incident.”