Pet Save Sudbury is looking to find the individual responsible for tying a young cat to railway tracks on Notre Dame Avenue in the area of the Salvation Army.
On July 24, Jill Pessot, director of Pet Save Sudbury, was unloading a truck at PetSave ReTAIL Thrift Shop and Collectables when she said a man came running down the street towards her carrying a small orange tabby cat.
“Call the police, call an ambulance,” she said the man cried hysterically, frantic over his inability to remove the remaining rope from the cat’s neck.
The two were quickly brought inside, where Pessot said the rope was removed and the understandably nervous cat calmed. At which point the two were able to inspect the severe rope burns around the animal’s neck, that she said, proved evidence to a prolonged struggle.
Concerned of further injury, Pessot said she brought the cat to Dr. Charlotte at Nickel City Animal Hospital, where she already had an appointment to visit.
Affectionately named ‘Trax’ by the veterinarian upon arrival, the cat was then examined and found to have no other evidence of abuse or neglect aside from considerable hunger and thirst. But this, said Pessot, could have been a result of the extreme heat that afternoon.
“They say he wouldn’t have lasted much longer in the heat, but I would be more worried for the train that comes by there around 4 or 5 p.m.”
Pessot said she doesn’t know how the man found the animal, or how it was removed from the tracks. And unfortunately, the man said he didn’t have a phone number, so those questions may go unanswered.
Once he had reached a state of calm, visibly shaken by the finding, she said he went on his way despite invitations to remain with the cat.
“It’s unimaginable,” she said. “Someone that dumps a cat, that’s one thing, but when they’re intentionally going to harm this cat in such a brutal way, it really makes you concerned about who this person is.”
Trax is expected to make a full recovery, and is already becoming a more affectionate, quiet cat after day one, said Pessot. If Pet Save is unable to locate an original owner, he will be put up for adoption as soon as he is fully recovered and neutered.
Several homes have already reached out to adopt the sweet-natured animal, she said.
But this is not the only sad case Pet Save has seen this year.
“To me, it always comes down to the same thing - we need to control the population. When animals are freely given out on the net - and the volume out there - you’re going to get that abuse,” said Pessot.
“If people that neglect and abuse animals couldn’t get their hands on them, we wouldn’t see these situations. So this is truly a human-driven problem.”
One cat can produce up to 7,000 offspring in three years, she said, and are being permitted to, as evidenced by what she described as a “disturbing” number of free litters online right now.
“It’s a number we’ve battled for 20 years and after 20 years, I see a minimal difference. It takes decades. People have to get on-board with spaying and neutering.”
Anyone with information on who may own the cat pictured or be responsible for its endangerment is asked to contact Pet Save at 705-692-3319 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Should an individual be found responsible for the act, police say they would face criminal charges associated with cruelty to animals, said Sgt. Jack Sivazlian of the Greater Sudbury Police. There is at this point in time no active investigation into the incident, however, as no report has been filed with police.
There has also been no report filed with the City of Greater Sudbury's animal services department, according to a representative. Should a case be filed, they said the case would be given to Provincial Animal Welfare Services (PAWS) for further investigation.
