“This is my worst nightmare”: Cat shot 12 times with BB gun in North Dakota
FAIRMOUNT, N.D. (Valley News Live) - A North Dakota man is calling attention to the moment he found his cat covered in blood outside of his Fairmount home. 4-year-old, Yolk, clings to life after he said she was shot 12 times by a BB gun.
On April 10, Evan Marnell called for Yolk to come back to their rural, North Dakota home.
“She wanders outside, I called her to come home at 8:00, but she didn’t come home. It wasn’t until 11:00 she finally showed up, and that’s when I noticed blood on her paws,” he said.
Covered in blood, he immediately rushed her to the emergency animal hospital in Fargo, which was an hour drive. He explained on the ride in, he watched her fade in and out of consciousness.
“I screamed and I begged and I told her she can’t leave, I told her she has to come back. I watched when she did,” Marnell said. “They took X-rays when we got there, and I originally thought it was just a coyote or a fox attack, but nope, they said there’s bullets all throughout your cat.”
The emergency vet said Yolk was shot 12 times with a BB gun. She currently remains in the hospital, unresponsive, in septic shock.
Throughout, Evan is forced to watch his best friend suffer.
He named the cat Yolk in reference to an egg tattoo he has on his wrist. He said he’s the egg, and the cat is the center of his world, much like a yolk is to the center of an egg.
“She’s my rock, she’s my routine, she’s my activity, she’s the joy and only thing that exists outside of me and my life,” he added.
Evan is an artist with plans to open a queer non-profit art center in a neighboring town. With a population of roughly 300 people, he thinks a neighbor shot his cat.
“I’d be surprised if they didn’t know who that cat belonged to. There’s even BB gun holes through two windows of my house,” Marnell said. “It just really kills me this is now taking a toll on my cat.”
He made a police report, but has yet to recieve any answers.
With Yolk’s future unknown, Evan took to social media to bring attention to the situation. In a now viral TikTok, he stood outside the hospital and expressed his feelings. “This is a nightmare I want to wake up from. This is the worst nightmare I’ve ever had,” he said in the video clip.
Right now, it’s a nightmare. He still dreams, however, of a full recovery for his four-legged friend. He created a GoFundMe for Yolk’s hospital bills, which has already raised over $20,000 dollars.
He eventually plans to press charges against the shooter.
Copyright 2025 KVLY. All rights reserved.
