Tortured Cat Returns To Reveal Humanity’s Brighter Side, Too

It’s not too big of a stretch to call Cass a miracle cat. The 1-year-old cat went through a horrific couple of days after he disappeared from his family’s home in southeast Michigan. When he showed up two days later, it was clear he had been tortured for the sport of it.

Veterinarians confirmed to Derrick and Darlene Mosko Tinsley, of Fowlerville, that the kitten they had found a year ago in the rain had been shot two dozen times with a BB gun — in his eye, mouth, genitalia, abdomen, legs and feet. A broadhead blowgun dart was lodged in his tail, and his fur was matted with feces.

The cat’s ruptured eye was removed in surgery at the Fowlerville Veterinary Clinic. Surgery was also performed on his nasal passages to remove BBs that made breathing a struggle. The other BBs may have to be surgically removed as well.

“He’s doing great for what he went through,” Tinsley told The Livingston Daily. “I can’t believe how well he’s doing.”

Cass’ return is, in a way, triumphant. His ordeal betrayed the dark side of humanity, but it revealed the goodness of society, too.

Kind strangers have donated thousands of dollars to help the family cover ever-mounting veterinary bills, which could go as high as $5,000 when additional treatments and medications are billed. As of Monday evening, $4,395 had been raised on a GoFundMe site.

“I’m overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers after something so horrible,” Darlene Tinsley told The Livingston Daily. “Someone inflicted such harm on him.”

If donations exceed the cost of medical treatment, the remainder will be donated to animal welfare groups, the Tinsleys have said.

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Derrick Tinsley told CBS Detroit that Cass is a social, friendly cat loved by everyone in the Alan’s Mobile Home Park community in Fowlerville. He is both an indoor and outside cat, and when he makes a foray around the park to visit here and there, no one seems to have an issue with it, Tinsley said. Cass even shows up regularly at the bus stop to greet kids when they’re dropped off at the end of the day.

The Tinsleys let Cass out of their home on Saturday, Feb. 11. They figure someone trapped him, tortured him and then dropped him off two days later at their mobile home.

Residents of the park are outraged by what happened to Cass.

“There are so many people who are angry about it … if it’s a child — they need help, and if it’s an adult they need to be locked up,” Tinsley told CBS.

The Michigan Humane Society is investigating. Anyone with information should contact the Humane Society’s animal cruelty division or call the Cruelty Hotline at (313) 872-3401.

*Warning: Graphic image on GoFundMe page*

Photo of veterinary bill via GoFundMe