Cat bound, thrown from vehicle
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

FELINE CRUELTY- This kitty was thrown from a passing truck in front of the Arroyo Vista Veterinary Hospital on Thursday.

Sally Hanson was crying and shaking, and she could hardly talk as she walked into the Arroyo Vista Veterinary Hospital in the 400 block of Los Angeles Avenue yesterday morning with a bag containing a black cat. The animal was bound with duct tape around its legs, eyes and mouth, deliberately dropped from a vehicle, said veterinarian Dr. John Gonda, who was appalled by what he saw.

Hanson who lives on the East Coast, was passing through town on her way to the airport at about 11 a.m. when she saw someone drop the white shopping bag out of a black pickup truck that was driving ahead of her, said Gonda.

She stopped to investigate because she noticed a black head was sticking out of the bag and immediately brought the animal to the nearby veterinarian to assess his condition.

The cat has a fractured tooth but it appeared otherwise unharmed, said Gonda, who was still examining the animal to rule out other injuries at press time.

"I'm so mad that there are people out there that would do this," he said. "It's horrible enough to throw an animal out the window, but somebody was callous enough to tape the animal up with duct tape and cover its mouth and eyes before disposing of it in such a cruel way," he said.

The animal is a male, about three or four years old. "It was declawed and neutered so somebody spent money on the cat; it wasn't a stray animal," said Gonda, suspecting the culprits may not have been the owners.

"I can't see how someone would do this to their own cat, even if they don't like it. My thought is to get word out to locate the owners," said Gonda, adding the animal has a sweet disposition.

Authorities were notified of the incident, but without a license plate, there's not much they can do to locate the culprits, they said.

"If the animal is injured it could be a felony and the person could go to prison," said Sgt. Will Hammer of the Moorpark Police. This case is troubling because of the premeditated nature of the incident, he said.

Persons who recognize the cat or have information about this incident are invited to contact Gonda at (805) 529-6833. The cat will stay at the hospital until the owners or a new family is located, he said.