This reminds of a story about one of my friends cats, albeit slightly different. He got a small kitten from a group of five younglings, but eventually decided to not have it. It was then decided that the kitten would be put down because no one could find a proper home for it.
His dad took it upon him to carry out the task and put the kitten in a sack, took it outside, loaded his shotgun and shot the kitten.
Now here comes the unbelieveable part. The gunshot actually missed, and what was to be a fatal blow, instead struck the kittens back and tail, in sort of a straight line. My friend and his dad took it as a sign that the cat was supposed to live so they decided to adopt it. The cat, which is fully grown today, has a long stripe running from his back all the way out to the end of his tail. A memento that cats indeed have seven lives.
Long story short. Don't kill cats. Take care of them instead. They're beautiful animals and should be treated as such.