Someone Dumped A Cat At A Shelter Overnight In A Terrible Condition, But After Shaving Its Fur They Saw A True Beauty
Sadly, the folks at Douglas County Animal Care & Services in Gardnerville, Nevada, are well accustomed to receiving anonymous animal dumping outside of regular work hours, but this one was even more heartbreaking than usual.
On arrival at the shelter one morning, shelter supervisor Liz Begovich and her collegues came across an animal carrier, with a huge ball of unidentifiable fluff inside. “All we saw was a matted mess,” Liz told The Dodo.
What could this poor creature be? The shelter staff’s first guess was that it must be a dog, given that dogs are generally less fastidious about their grooming than cats. It was time to open the carrier and find out. “We couldn’t turn him around because of the way he was shoved in the carrier,” Liz said. “So we took the top off and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a cat!’ I’ve never seen a cat in that sort of condition.”
It was really bad. The cat was a prisoner of its own fur, barely able to move under the tangled, matted layers. He was overweight due to lack of exercise, and whoever had owned him must presumably just brought food and water and put it right under his nose.
“We immediately took him to the vet where they sedated him,” Liz continued. “They shaved about 4.5 pounds of hair off of him. It filled a full-size kitchen trash bag.” The sudden freedom immediately lifted the confidence of the previously dreadlocked cat, who they cheekily named Bob Marley. “Once the hair was off, he was walking around. I saw him looking up at the counter thinking, ‘I can jump up there.’ I thought, ‘No you can’t.’”
Bob now has a loving home, who can help him recover from years of neglect, as well as shed all those excess pounds he is carrying around. At 10 years old he still has many good years ahead of him! He has turned out to be such a handsome devil, and was adopted within a few days.
The authorities are making inquiries to try to find Bob’s previous owner, the man who dumped him was captured on CCTV and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying this person. Perhaps he was a Good Samaritan, having rescued Bob and dropped him at the shelter for treatment, nobody knows. Liz herself is unsure, but has doubts about any good intentions from the mystery man. “Normally, when someone leaves an animal after hours, there’s usually more to the story. It’s typically not a Good Samaritan who found an animal on the side of the road,” she said. “We would really like to know the backstory. There could be other animals in this house, wherever this cat came from, who are in the same condition.”
Either way, the truth will surely emerge eventually. The main thing is that Bob is happy, loved and free of his shackles. Scroll down below to check him out for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
An unidentified man was caught on CCTV leaving an animal carrier in front of an animal shelter recently
Image credits: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office
Image credits: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office
The shelter staff’s first guess was that it must be a dog, given that dogs are generally less fastidious about their grooming than cats
Image credits: Douglas County Animal Care & Services
“We couldn’t turn him around because of the way he was shoved in the carrier”
Image credits: Douglas County Animal Care & Services
“So we took the top off and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a cat!’ I’ve never seen a cat in that sort of condition”
Image credits: Douglas County Animal Care & Services
The cat was a prisoner of its own fur, barely able to move under the tangled, matted layers
Image credits: Douglas County Animal Care & Services
“They shaved about 4.5 pounds of hair off of him. It filled a full-size kitchen trash bag”
Image credits: Douglas County Animal Care & Services
It turned out the formerly dreadlocked cat, who the shelter cheekily named Bob Marley, was also severely overweight
Image credits: Douglas County Animal Care & Services
The new dashingly handsome Bob was put up for adoption, and now has a loving home
Image credits: Douglas County Animal Care & Services
As for the previous owner, some people came to defend the man that was caught on tape
However, others weren’t buying it
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
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Mixed feelings here. I agree that it seems unlikely that this person was a good samaritan and just brought the cat. But even in the contrary, that is, he negleted that cat, prosecuting him based on the video footage might discourage other people neglecting their animals from at least abanndoing them at places where help is close. However, any single case of animal neglect is one too many.
My guess is that the owner was suffering from severe depression and finally found the strength to at least drop the cat off at the shelter. The cat seems to be quite allright with people, which would mean that it was not treated with cruelty, even though it was horrendously neglected. Depresion could definitely be the root of this, and no, it should not be prosecuted, also for the reason Hans is pointing out.
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We don't know the story, so I think it makes no sense to try to pass judgement (maybe he was a good Samaritan who found the cat, though that seems unlikely seeing how the poor thing could barely move, maybe he was the neglectful owner, or maybe the cat belonged to an elderly relative who recently passed away, who knows), what I do know is that the last thing shelters should do is scare people away from turning in unwanted animals, and that is what they run the risk of doing by getting the police involved. Besides, does anyone really think he wouldn't have gotten judged if he'd turned up with a cat in that condition during business hours and done 'the right thing'? I'm glad the cat is safe, but I really think they should let it go.
So shelters should just take abused animals and not try to take any steps toward addressing abuse at its source? The owner of the cat could have other pets in terrible condition that need to be rescued, or could get a new pet and neglect it. That's why the police gets involved. A case of abuse or neglect should not just be "let go", there have to be consequences for the people committing these acts.
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People are not divided in saints and monsters and judging them based on assumptions is always wrong.
Everyone always wishes the world was so black and white, especially when it comes to animal welfare issues, but it just isn't. That doesn't make this case any less sad or frustrating though.
Load More Replies... Mixed feelings here. I agree that it seems unlikely that this person was a good samaritan and just brought the cat. But even in the contrary, that is, he negleted that cat, prosecuting him based on the video footage might discourage other people neglecting their animals from at least abanndoing them at places where help is close. However, any single case of animal neglect is one too many.
My guess is that the owner was suffering from severe depression and finally found the strength to at least drop the cat off at the shelter. The cat seems to be quite allright with people, which would mean that it was not treated with cruelty, even though it was horrendously neglected. Depresion could definitely be the root of this, and no, it should not be prosecuted, also for the reason Hans is pointing out.
Load More Replies... We don't know the story, so I think it makes no sense to try to pass judgement (maybe he was a good Samaritan who found the cat, though that seems unlikely seeing how the poor thing could barely move, maybe he was the neglectful owner, or maybe the cat belonged to an elderly relative who recently passed away, who knows), what I do know is that the last thing shelters should do is scare people away from turning in unwanted animals, and that is what they run the risk of doing by getting the police involved. Besides, does anyone really think he wouldn't have gotten judged if he'd turned up with a cat in that condition during business hours and done 'the right thing'? I'm glad the cat is safe, but I really think they should let it go.
So shelters should just take abused animals and not try to take any steps toward addressing abuse at its source? The owner of the cat could have other pets in terrible condition that need to be rescued, or could get a new pet and neglect it. That's why the police gets involved. A case of abuse or neglect should not just be "let go", there have to be consequences for the people committing these acts.
Load More Replies... People are not divided in saints and monsters and judging them based on assumptions is always wrong.
Everyone always wishes the world was so black and white, especially when it comes to animal welfare issues, but it just isn't. That doesn't make this case any less sad or frustrating though.
Load More Replies...
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