SPLENDORA – A Splendora family said six of their pets have been shot or disappeared in the last year and a half.
The family is devastated and can’t understand why someone would want to hurt their pets.
Now, one of their neighbors is charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty. He made his first court appearance on Wednesday.
Nicky Flowers said her cats are a part of the family. Sadly, in the past year and a half, Flowers said six of them have been killed, wounded or disappeared from her Oak Leaf Loop home in Splendora.
“It’s horrible. These are like our kids. We buy them stockings and we buy them treats and toys,” she said.
In December of 2020, Flowers found her cat Sabrina shot in the head and thrown into a creek near her home.
“We were literally driving in from work and we saw her, so we picked her up and brought her home,” Flowers said.
In April of 2021, her cat Grayson was also found shot in the head with a pellet. Veterinarians could not save the cat so Nicky made the tough decision to have it euthanized.
“Like, his jaw was hanging. It completely destroyed his bottom jaw,” she said.
Nine days later, her cat named Tom was shot in the eye with a pellet. X-rays show the bullet still lodged in the feline’s head.
“We had to make a decision as to whether or not to remove it and cause more damage. We already knew he was going to be blind in his eye,” she said.
Her neighbor, 40-year-old Gabriel Yeppez IV, is now charged with three felony counts of cruelty to non-livestock animals. Court documents state Yeppez admitted to the crimes.
“That was difficult. My husband was really upset. He was like, ‘You don’t know how hard it was to (not) go off.’ He came up in the middle of the day and was apologizing and offering money to pay for the vet bills,” Flowers said.
Flowers said three of her other cats are still missing.
“They didn’t deserve that. Nobody deserves that,” she said.
Flowers said she put up extra cameras around her home to protect her other pets.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said Yeppez has bonded out.