A grief-stricken Albuquerque family is demanding answers after a string of animal shootings in the area that left their cat among the victims.

Shannon Dailey told KRQE.com their ordeal began when family members recently found the cat bleeding in the backyard of their home, and neighbors told them other animals in the area had also been shot. One neighbor told them someone was recently seen on the block shooting birds.

“We saw a couple of blood spots starting here and then it’s starting to drip off the wall here where he jumped to run and there’s blood right there all across this wall,” Dailey said. “He was in a pool of blood and the way he was laying I could tell that he had been shot so I started screaming for my husband and grabbed a towel, picked him up, and rushed to the vet.”

After being rushed to the veterinarian the cat passed away, leaving the family even more devastated and desperate for answers.

“They took him back immediately, gave the ok to CPR, life-saving measures but a few minutes in, he ended up coding and dying,” Dailey said, adding that she now plans to have security cameras installed around her home. “To lose an animal so violently is rough, not disappear, we were there when he died, we pet it, it was horrible.”