olena
<font color=green>Emerald Angel<br><font color=mag
- Joined
- May 12, 2001
- Messages
- 22,565
STANTON, Mich. - Jamie Muniz was relieved to see her cat, Debo, wander into her yard about a week after disappearing.
Her relief quickly gave way to horror and outrage when she took a closer look at her 8-year-old pet.
"He had two arrows right through his head," she said. "They stuck through about an inch right next to his eye and at least 3 1/2 inches out the back side of his ear. It almost looked like it was going diagonally through his head."
Despite Debo's predicament, Muniz said he was meowing and looking for his food when he returned to his home Friday in Stanton, about 37 miles northeast of Grand Rapids.
The surgery and other medical care needed to keep the cat alive cost "hundreds and hundreds of dollars," Muniz told The (Greenville) Daily News. She was stunned when someone offered to take care of it for free.
"We take in cats who aren't adoptable, mainly from rescue groups," said Roger Hodyka, co-founder of Cat Tail Farms Feline Sanctuary in Perry, a nonprofit feline-rescue organization.
He offered to pay for Debo to have the surgery at the Riverfront Animal Hospital in Lansing.
"They (the Muniz family) couldn't afford it and we said we couldn't afford it, but I didn't care," Hodyka said. "It's worth it. They can take my car away over it."
The Munizes dropped Debo off at his farm on Monday morning. Hodyka said Debo rubbed against him and ate some food.
"He acted like there was nothing wrong," he said.
The arrows were surgically removed that morning in a procedure that took about half an hour, he said. Debo ended up losing one of his eyes.
"We're waiting to see if there's swelling or a problem with the brain," Hodyka said.
If all goes well, the cat is expected to return home in a few days.
"I just can't believe he lived," Muniz said. "He's got nine lives, that's for sure."
Meanwhile, police were looking for whoever shot Debo.
"We talked to the chief of police in Stanton and certainly we would like to know who did this," Montcalm County Sheriff Bill Barnwell said.
The person responsible could be charged with malicious destruction of property, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of more than $1,000, or animal cruelty, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
Her relief quickly gave way to horror and outrage when she took a closer look at her 8-year-old pet.
"He had two arrows right through his head," she said. "They stuck through about an inch right next to his eye and at least 3 1/2 inches out the back side of his ear. It almost looked like it was going diagonally through his head."
Despite Debo's predicament, Muniz said he was meowing and looking for his food when he returned to his home Friday in Stanton, about 37 miles northeast of Grand Rapids.
The surgery and other medical care needed to keep the cat alive cost "hundreds and hundreds of dollars," Muniz told The (Greenville) Daily News. She was stunned when someone offered to take care of it for free.
"We take in cats who aren't adoptable, mainly from rescue groups," said Roger Hodyka, co-founder of Cat Tail Farms Feline Sanctuary in Perry, a nonprofit feline-rescue organization.
He offered to pay for Debo to have the surgery at the Riverfront Animal Hospital in Lansing.
"They (the Muniz family) couldn't afford it and we said we couldn't afford it, but I didn't care," Hodyka said. "It's worth it. They can take my car away over it."
The Munizes dropped Debo off at his farm on Monday morning. Hodyka said Debo rubbed against him and ate some food.
"He acted like there was nothing wrong," he said.
The arrows were surgically removed that morning in a procedure that took about half an hour, he said. Debo ended up losing one of his eyes.
"We're waiting to see if there's swelling or a problem with the brain," Hodyka said.
If all goes well, the cat is expected to return home in a few days.
"I just can't believe he lived," Muniz said. "He's got nine lives, that's for sure."
Meanwhile, police were looking for whoever shot Debo.
"We talked to the chief of police in Stanton and certainly we would like to know who did this," Montcalm County Sheriff Bill Barnwell said.
The person responsible could be charged with malicious destruction of property, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of more than $1,000, or animal cruelty, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
