Abused cats rescued; reward offered
After Mercy is asked to stop pawing at her injured eye, she snuggles up to Humane Officer Glenn Thomson.
Reward posters were placed along St. Cloud Road in Eighty Four, where neighbors say someone is abusing feral cats.
Mary Marnella holds Cloud, a 2-year-old, three-legged feline rescued from St. Cloud Road in Somerset Township in October 2014 after being shot.
EIGHTY FOUR – Cloud is a 2-year-old feline who bounds around just fine despite having three legs.
Cloud – named after the location where she was found, St. Cloud Road in Somerset Township – was adopted by Mary Marnella of Munhall after the organizer of the Fluffyjean Fund for Felines funded the medical care for the cat that had been shot with a .22-caliber rifle.
The fund, started by Faith Bjalobok of Peters Township in memory of a barn cat she owned, put up the cash to have the cat’s leg amputated. That was in October 2014, but since then Bjalobok said residents of St. Cloud Road have continued to find abused animals.
“We’ve found several dead kittens and cats. So now, after a year-and-a-half of reports of cats coming up shot or beaten, the fund is offering a $500 reward for anyone who knows something that leads to the arrest of whoever is doing this,” Bjalobok said.
Bjalobok said she has contacted state police about the abuse cases, but so far no action has been taken.
Mercy, a cat found bludgeoned so badly her eye was hanging out, was taken to the Washington Area Humane Society. The cat ultimately lost the eye, but is receiving good care, Humane Society officer Glenn Thomson said.
“She came in at the end of April. We get around 25 calls a week of abuse, so it’s not unusual or shocking, I’m sorry to say, but it’s still upsetting to see them like this,” Thomson said.
Josh Owens, who lives on St. Cloud Road, had been finding litters of kittens left abandoned, including Mercy, hiding under the floorboards of various mobile homes. He also found Cloud.
“I’ve found at least four cats who’ve had injuries that suffered obvious abuse. Animals didn’t do this. It started a year-and-a-half ago, and now it’s getting more frequent again,” Owens said.
One of the cats – a 6-month-old – was fortunate that Owens found her and she didn’t suffer injuries like the others. Owens’s mother, Delores, gladly took Sarah into her care at her North Strabane Township home.
“The Fluffyjean Fund paid for her to be spayed. She wasn’t injured, but she is a bit cross-eyed … it’s not right to take pot shots at these animals. I hope they catch whoever is doing this. They wouldn’t want me finding them,” Delores Owens said.
Anyone with information on potential abusers is asked to call the Fluffyjean Fund at 724-941-5683.
“People – the two-legged animals – they’re tough to deal with. And they’re the ones that do this torture. It’s sickening,” Marnella said. “These four-legged, and yes, three-legged animals, you’d do anything for them, because they would never do anything but love you.”