Posted on 02/02/2015 7:45:50 AM PST by Brother Cracker
TAMPA, Fla., - A cat who was buried before rising up from his grave will not be returned to his original owner, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay said Sunday.
The cat, named Bart, was allegedly struck by a passing vehicle last week before his owner, Ellis Hutson, buried the cat with a neighbor. Five days later a different neighbor spotted Bart above ground, covered in open wounds and maggots.
The cat was severely dehydrated but suffered no internal injuries, and the Humane Society of Tampa Bay was able to save Bart after giving him a blood transfusion, removing his left eye and wiring his jaw shut. The organization said the cat must have clawed his way out of the dirt after regaining consciousness, hiding out before he was found days later.
Sherry Silk, executive director of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, said in a statement Sunday that Bart would not be released to his owner due to revelations about his "home environment and the circumstances leading up to his burial."
"We hope the Hutson family will do the right thing and surrender Bart to our care so that we can find an appropriate environment for him to live out his life.
Silk said that while she does not doubt Hutson's story, and that Bart's wounds were consistent with being hit by a car and buried, it was in Bart's interest to remain with the Humane Society until another potential owner was found, and that they were "prepared to fight to keep the cat."
Court documents show Hutson had been arrested and charged with animal cruelty in 1998, though details surrounding the incident are unclear and the charges were later dropped. He did not immediately return calls to CNN.
“...his owner, Ellis Hutson, buried the cat with a neighbor.”
Why isn’t anybody complaining about the neighbor Ellis buried?
(Glad Bart made it.)
I think this issue should be fully litigated.
Does the cat have an attorney? Anyone want to volunteer?
IIRC, a vet said teh cat was dead. If so, I hope the owner sues the cat-napping money raisers because theat is what they are using this cat for.
Political whores and animal rights whores are like street whores - “It’s the money, Honey.”
It’s a ZOMBIE CAT!
Has the cat been read it’s Miranda rights?!
You have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and may be used against you; you have the right to have an attorney present before and during the questioning; and you have the right, if you cannot afford the services of an attorney, to have one appointed, at public expense and without cost to you, to represent you before and during questioning.
“giving him a blood transfusion”
Is it just me or when did they start keeping “cat” blood on supply for transfusions?
I have a friend fighting with the Humane society over a dog now.
The dog got out of the yard and was hit by a car and received minor injuries. The driver took the dog to the humane society who proclaimed that the fact that it wasn’t wearing tags proves the dog has been neglected. The thing is that the dog has a chip in its neck and the veterinarian has also weighed in to tell the Humane society that the dog is well cared for.
Apparently the humane society has the authority to hold the dog for 30 days before getting animal control involved who will scan the chip and call my friend to come get his dog (and pay the fines for the dog being loose)
“Is it just me or when did they start keeping “cat” blood on supply for transfusions?”
In my day, vets would simply phone a Chinese restaurant!
I checked into your claim that a vet had said the cat was dead. That seems to be validated by several sources. If it is true, there’s no reason that Bart shouldn’t be returned to his owner. The Humane Society says that they don’t disbelieve him, yet they think they have the authority to take away someone’s pet. Not true. Bart may need extra care right now, and for a while more, but ultimate custody of him should go revert to his owner who wasn’t abusing him.
Some vets keep an “office” cat on the premises that may be sometimes used as a blood donor for kitty transfusions.
They don’t have the authority, but a court does, and that’s where it will go if the Humane Society and the owner don’t agree. The Humane Society can dispute the owner’s ability or fitness to care for the cat, and the court will decide. That’s “due process”.
They ask for volunteers...and boy do the cats come running...
“...a vet said teh cat was dead.”
I seem to remember that from a previous article.
As I understand it, tags and chips are two completely different entities.
Yes! I detest government making so many laws and regulations but I do wish there was a law so people couldn’t make a business of doing all this rescue crud!
It has been more expensive for me to take in a rescue than to buy a registered dog. It sometimes makes adopting or rescuing a dog a pain in the arse.
We adopted/rescued a skinny boxer from death row but the county had a particular vet we had to use, we couldn’t use our vet and bring proof back.
The vet they sent the dog to never even did the spay that we paid for. Animal Control delivers the dog to this vet and you pick the dog up from that vet.
Anyhow, she tested positive for heart-worms and this vet works with a college for study and treatment but she wasn’t showing baby heart-worms, only the adultworms. So I had to keep driving miles for this vet to test her and no treatment was happening. They couldn’t spay her without heartworm treatment.
Finally she had a heart attack and we rushed her to our vet who has done all her treatments and care— the other vet that we were forced to use and paid for services—never did anything except test her over and over again, no spay...nothing.
It was a terrible experience. Great dog though!
Yes, the former is a tax and the latter is merely for identification by the owner.
“IIRC, a vet said teh cat was dead”
Obviously the vet doesn’t know the difference between being dead and taking a cat nap.
I worked for a Vet back in 60s. We kept a couple of "house cats" who were the designated blood donors when needed. They were well fed and the staff used to play with them a bit to keep them socialized.
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