One dreary night in rural Missouri, the cries of a cat in distress filled the air. Fortunately, his cries were heard. A local landown- er followed the sounds all the way to the edge of her property, where she found a most disturbing
sight: a cat who looked like he’d been in a terrible fight. With his
rear leg dangling, he could hardly walk. Upon closer inspection, his
rescuer also saw more pain had been purposefully inflicted — half his tail
had been hacked off, exposing the bone.
A Cat with a Missing
Limb Makes His New
Family Whole
GRAB A TISSUE
FOR THE LOVE OF CATS
BY DENISE LEBEAU
Whatever had gotten ahold of the
orange cat had been violent and
brutal, but this cat was a fighter. His
desperate mewling set in motion a
series of events that saved his life.
On that same night, 100 miles
away, a celebration was about to
commence. It was Lalita Creighton’s
wedding anniversary, and she was
just about out the door when the
phone rang. The caller was frantic
about a cat who had been seemingly
tortured and left for dead. Lalita
took off her heels and sat down
to start the networking to save a
cat she had never even met. But
that’s par for the course for Lalita
because she’s the co-founder of
Midwest Community Cat Alliance,
an organization dedicated to saving
cats’ lives. While the all-volunteer
organization focuses on cats in local
animal control and trap-neuter-
return, it continually goes the extra
mile regarding cats in need.
“My first thought was that he had
been in a car engine, and I was very
worried he might have even more
injuries that weren’t as obvious,”
Lalita said. “I had to do all I could to
get him to safety.”
Saving Ruger was quickly under-
way when Lalita called Michelle
Carlson, who drove to get him and
took him straight to their trusted
veterinarian’s office, Hope Animal
Hospital.
It was during Ruger’s intake at
the clinic when the real culprit
of his injuries was revealed — a
high-caliber bullet had shattered
his leg. He was not the victim of a
car engine or an animal attack; he
was the victim of abuse.
“When we discovered the leg
PH
O
TO
S
CO
U
R
TE
SY
M
ID
WE
ST
C
OM
M
U
NI
TY
CAT
ALLIA
N
C
E
David
and
Ruger
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