05/13/2003
LA daily news
Reward mounts in cat persecution
By Rachel Uranga
Staff Writer
VENTURA -- Hoping to find the person who dumped a blue-eyed Himalayan cat at sea, in a kitty carrier weighed down by two five-pound rocks, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced a $1,000 reward Monday to find the culprit.
The Virginia-based advocacy group's reward comes on the heels of another $1,000 reward offered by Jillian Barberie of Fox's "Good Day Live," after her station, KTTV (Channel 11), aired a segment on the long-hair cat believed to be about 5 years old, said Tim Dewar, spokesman for the Humane Society of Ventura County. The society is caring for the well-mannered critter at its shelter in Ojai, where staff members call the cat Sandy.
Society members are also chipping in money to bring the reward up to $2,500 for a conviction.
"This is a prosecutable offense," Dewar said. "If someone knows someone who is missing an animal that fits that description, we would love to talk to them."
Last week -- about 10 a.m. Wednesday -- someone walking on the beach spotted the 19-pound cat, shivering and wet, in an undersized cage below the surf line on the San Buenaventura State Beach, Dewar said.
"The veterinarian said it suffered a lot of neurological damage because of a blow to the head," he said. "It could have been a kick to the head, or someone could have hit it with a stick." Dewar said there also could have been a blow to the cat's head if the sea slammed the carrier into rocks.
As a result, the cat with a deep brown face, white collar and tan mane, cannot move her right eye and has trouble with balance, but her condition improved over the weekend.
"She's jumping around," Dewar said. "Hopefully, she will continue to improve."
The cat will remain at the shelter until somebody is charged, and then Sandy will be turned over to the court. Dewar said he's unsure where the cat will be placed if nobody is charged.
A photo of the long-whiskered cat is featured atop the shelter's Web site at www.humanesocietyvc.org.
Anyone with information pertaining to the case is being asked to contact the shelter at (805) 656-5031.
just when you think you have seen every form oF inhumanity......
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