Unusual. Cat wanders onto neighbor's backyard. Neighbor shoots cat owner dead.

I've prefixed the title with the word "unusual". I'm being deliberately low-key to emphasise the extreme behaviour of the man who has been charged with second-degree homicide. His name is Clifton Anthony Bliss Jr.. He has a history of instigating fights with members of the community according to Corporal J Lightle as reported on NBC News.

NOTE: THIS IS A STOCK PHOTO -- Unusual. Cat wanders onto neighbor's backyard. Neighbor shoots cat owner dead.

The victim is a neighbour of Mr Bliss, 41-year-old James Arland Taylor Jr.. His cat had wandered onto Bliss's backyard. Bliss was so upset by this simple, innocent act that he grabbed his .22 rifle, walked across the street to Mr Taylor's home and shot him twice. Taylor died at the scene it is believed.

The usual outcome in this kind of story is that the perpetrator shoots the cat with a .22 rifle not the cat's caregiver. An extreme act as mentioned.

Sergeant Paul Bloom of the Marion County Sheriff's Department stated that Taylor pleaded with Mr Bliss to not shoot his cat. It looks as though Mr Bliss complied with that request and decided to shoot him instead.

The unusual cat-related events took place near the central Florida city of Umatilla. The matter was reported on NBC affiliate WFLA.

Comment: Cat's 'tresspassing' (cats can't legally tresspass) can rile some property owners when they are in the anti-cat brigade. It wouldn't surprise me if these two had had words before on several occasions although that isn't reported.

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An awful lot of friction can be generated between neighbours over a tresspassing domestic cat. Many home owners in the US shoot feral cats when they come onto their land. They believe that they have to right to do it. Although my research tells me that in every US state it will be a crime under animal welfare laws unless a rare exeption applies in some states. The police are disinterested in enforcing the law or the shooting is unreported.