SHERWOOD, Ark. – A Central Arkansas non-profit is working to help mistreated cats.
The organization says this week they have treated two cats that were shot and later died. They’re hoping to bring awareness to what they’re calling an ongoing situation.
Sarah Richardson with the Community Cats of Central Arkansas said so far this year they’ve rescued 400 cats from abuse and neglect.
“Before we did rescue several years ago, I would have never known that many animals were neglected and injured,” Richardson said.
It’s something Sarah Richardson with the Community Cats of Central Arkansas says is becoming an ongoing problem.
“We on a pretty constant basis take in cats on neglected cases and other abuse,” Richardson said.
Richardson said they’re not able to save every cat. This week they received calls to help two cats, the first called in from Conway and the second from Jacksonville both suffering gunshot wounds.
Richardson goes on to say the first cat was an adult that “we picked over 50 buck shots off of the cat’s fur. We went straight to the vet and the cat had been shot in the back end.”
“The second one happened a few days later it was a 12-ounce kitten it was shot in the front leg area,” Richardson continued.
Richardson said both cats died because of their injuries and wounds that they see often.
“Some that are purposely burned or covered in gasoline, a few other gunshots,” Richardson said.
She also said some are so badly neglected they lose their eyes. As far as where they’re seeing most cases come from, she said they’re outside of the city.
“We are definitely seeing them in areas outside of city limits where there is no shelter,” Richardson said.
Primarily focusing on rescuing neglected and abused cats, Richardson believes more needs to be done from the state.
“We feel like Arkansas even though they have laws here they are not strict enough on animal abuse and animal neglect cases, so I think we still need to push on things like that,” Richardson said.
If you would like to volunteer, foster, or adopt you can reach the nonprofit CommunityCatsGlobal.com.
