Local squirrel shot by arrow awaits treatment and release on Sept. 15, 2016. Courtesy of Michael Belligan and Gillian Van Stratt.
For East Lansing residents and married couple Michael Belligan and Gillian Van Stratt, two squirrels were practically neighborhood pets. The couple even named them — Thin Lizzie and Stubs. That's why when it appeared someone deliberately harmed one of the animals, Belligan said he was shocked.
Last Thursday, Belligan said his wife noticed something strange about the way Thin Lizzie was walking and heard a scraping on the sidewalk. It did not take long for the couple to notice an arrow going through the squirrel's hindquarters.
“I thought we could catch her and get the arrow out,” Belligan said. “It look like it wasn’t through organs, just a big chunk of skin, kind of like in one side of the back and out the other side of the back.”
Unable to catch the squirrel on their own, Belligan said the couple soon called the East Lansing Police Department, who worked with Parking and Code Enforcement, or PACE, officers to catch Thin Lizzie.
East Lansing Police Department Lt. Scott Wriggelsworth said officers took the squirrel up to the impound lot north of East Lansing to let it free.
“They went and took it up to our impound lot and while the squirrel was on the noose they were able to pull the arrow out,” Wriggelsworth said. “Without the head (of the arrow), Officer (Ryan) Panetta was able to pull the arrow off. They un-noosed it and it ran away.”
The whole ordeal took about half an hour, Belligan said.
If the perpetrator is caught having fired a weapon in East Lansing city limits, East Lansing City Attorney Thomas Yeadon said there will be consequences.
“It’s a 90 day misdemeanor and/or a $500 fine,” Yeadon said. “That’s the maximum penalty. Generally people aren’t given the maximum penalty when they are caught for doing something.”
The police will not be investigating the situation because there is not a way to start the process, Wriggelsworth said.
That doesn't mean the search for the perpetrator is over.
Belligan said he is putting up flyers around town offering a $200 reward to anyone who has information that could lead to the prosecution of the person responsible for the shooting of the squirrel.
“Really the goal is to make sure this doesn’t happen again," Belligan said. "It’s illegal and it’s senseless. ... Hunting in downtown East Lansing just for the sake of fun is something I don’t think anyone wants to tolerate.”
