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Cat abuse prompts call to report cruelty cases

By: Gabrielle Giroday

Posted: 03/10/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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Winnipeg Humane Society executive director Bill McDonald with Shady the cat, who suffered a horrific beating and is now available for adoption.

SHADY the cat used up nearly all of her nine lives in a horrific beating.

The disturbing case has the head of the Winnipeg Humane Society calling for more people to come forward with animal cruelty complaints.

"This is a case where this cat hadn't done anything to anybody, and somebody went out of their way to abuse the cat," said Bill McDonald, the Humane Society's executive director. "Sometimes, people have to be taught ethics the hard way. And the hard way in this case is the law, and that's why the police are involved with this case."

The cat was rescued by police and an animal protection officer on Jan. 29 from a home in the northwest part of the city.

The three-year-old black cat, which is recovering from a fractured jaw, had been sprayed in the face with air freshener, kicked in the head and stomach and struck with a dumb-bell. Her body was covered in cuts when officials found her.

The cat was seized after her owner called the humane society seeking medical help.

McDonald said the humane society seizes about 12 to 20 animals per year.

That number jumps significantly into the hundreds if a puppy mill is uncovered.

"There's abuse going on out there that's not reported. Pets are dying and we just simply don't know about it," he said.

Animal protection officers who work for the humane society handle about 40 to 60 investigations each month, McDonald said. Only a handful of those cases result in federal Criminal Code or provincial Animal Care Act charges each year.

No one has been charged in the cat attack, but police are seeking a female suspect.

Last week, police charged another woman with poisoning her cat. It's alleged she fed the animal hand sanitizer.

Shady is available for adoption from the humane society.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 10, 2010 B2

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