CT environmental police: Red-tailed hawk shot with arrow in Newtown

Connecticut environmental police are investigating after someone shot an arrow through a red-tailed hawk in Newtown.
Christine Peyreigne, the founder of Christine’s Critters of Weston, gets about 250 patients a year. Now, she's taking care of a male red-tailed hawk pierced by an arrow.
"It actually punctured the outside of his leg, went through to the inside of his leg, so through his leg and into his body and out his back," she says. "It was a really crazy injury, not just because of how it punctured him but because he was able to fly."
That made catching the bird difficult. Newtown Animal Control tried after the injured hawk was spotted in a tree on Boggs Hill Road.
Peyreigne enlisted the help of a falconer friend on April 9.
"He actually trapped the bird," she says. "The bird ended up having to be brought right to the veterinarian for medical care."
The hawk had emergency surgery at South Wilton Veterinary Group. News 12 is told the arrow didn't hit any major organs but the hawk did have a fractured femur.
"The bird more than likely would've passed away in the wild if this bird hadn't been saved right when it did, and it had been out in the wild about a week with this arrow, being able to fly around the neighborhood," says Peyreigne.
Since then, the hawk's improved each day and is now able to eat on his own and stand again. He'll soon be moved to an outdoor flying cage.
"The end goal is to get this bird back to the wild," she says.
Peyreigne thinks the bird was shot by a hunter or even a kid as target practice. She alerted the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and is hoping its investigation finds the person responsible.
Shooting birds of prey is a federal offense. Peyreigne says if caught, this person is facing a fine of up to $15,000 and potential jail time.
For more about the hawk's progress, you can follow the Christine’s Critters social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram.