MIAMI (WSVN) - A man who confessed to shooting a stray cat with a crossbow in Miami Beach has been deported before his animal cruelty trial could take place.
According to the Miami Herald, 36-year-old Georgios Kollias was deported back to his native Greece in late November, after spending four months in a federal detention center.
Kollias was arrested back in July, about three months after a cat named Strushie was found near the Franklin Hotel in Miami Beach with an arrows in its head. Kollias was an employee of the hotel.
Police said Kollias confessed to shooting Strushie twice with a crossbow. The cat was later euthanized by a veterinarian.
Miami-Dade Chief Assistant State Attorney Kathleen Hoague said the news of his deportation was disappointing to prosecutors, who wanted to send Kollias to prison for the brutal cat killing.
“A lot of citizens were very concerned about this case,” Hoague told the Herald. “We were looking forward to proving this case — and we had good evidence against him.”
Doctors said the arrow penetrated behind one of the cat’s eyes and came out his mouth.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Dr. Rachael Johnson, a veterinarian at the VCA animal hospital where Strushie had been taken.
Kollias had originally claimed to have found the injured cat under a dumpster, telling 7News that he hoped the perpetrator would be caught.
“It’s not good, ’cause it’s something called karma. It’s coming back,” Kollias had said in our interview with him back in April.
Kollias had been charged with animal cruelty with intent to injure or kill and tampering with physical evidence.
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