A mix between a domesticated cat and an African serval cat has been shot dead in Detroit. The large feline had been seen walking around the northeast side for several weeks. It has been found dead in a garbage can.
According to Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek, founder of Paws for the Cause, the group which was trying to find the cat, found the 25-pound, 3-year-old animal dead in a trash can on the east side of Detroit on Monday night, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Wilhelm-Bruzek said that the cat was shot dead days ago near 8 Mile. The volunteer nonprofit rescue group had been searching for the cat since Saturday
"I think people can't just go around shooting things they don't understand," Wilhelm-Bruzek told the Detroit Free Press "I think we need to be a little bit more respectful of the animals and human beings around us. I'd love to see someone look into it and investigate it. But I'm not holding out a lot of hope. This whole thing from the beginning has just been a mess."
Residents who had seen the cat roaming around the neighborhoods said they tied to contact the Michigan Humane Society and Detroit Police in regards to the cat, called a Savannah. Both groups declined to investigate.
The cat's owners called Paws for a Cause to ask them for help finding the animal called "Chum." The cat, which didn't have a microchip, escaped their home about a month ago through a window.
The group had heard that the animal was killed, but they couldn't find the body until Monday, when they were shown the spot where the animal was thrown away.
"I simply asked them for the cat's body and they said it was across the street in a garbage can," she said. She was walked to the garbage can, "and the cat - whose name is Chum - was there," she said.
The owners, who had raised the cat since it was four months old, were extremely upset over the news. "They were hysterical," Wilhelm-Bruzek said. They will have the cat cremated.
A Savannah cat is a mix between a domesticated housecat and an African serval cat. Chum was two feet tall when sitting.
"I don't think it was the size as much as the coloration that scared people," Wilhelm-Bruzek said. They have exotic spot like a leopard. The breed was first introduced in 1997 and went for thousands of dollars.
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