Cat rescued after being tied up in pillowcase, left for dead

CTV Atlantic: Cat in pillowcase, left for dead A N.S woman is caring for a young cat after it was tied up in a pillowcase and thrown to the side of the road to die earlier this week.

A Nova Scotia woman is caring for a young cat after it was tied up in a pillowcase and thrown to the side of the road to die earlier this week.

Sonya Higgins of Eastern Passage runs a non-profit animal rescue organization. She says someone noticed the pillowcase was moving and was shocked to find a cat inside. Then they brought the animal to Higgins.

“To tie an animal in a pillowcase so it can’t possibly escape, where it could possibly have been hit by a plow, frozen to death in place, or picked up as part of the garbage, recycling day, is intolerable,” says Higgins.

Higgins took the cat to see a veterinarian right away.

“She was nervous and quiet. She was a bit dehydrated,” says Dr. Courtney Sherlock.

“She was fairly well kept, so she didn’t look too undernourished and she was a little bit jaundiced.”

Mary the cat may have some liver issues but she has bounced back. Higgins says she is eating and has more energy now.

Sherlock says animal abuse and abandoned animals is a serious issue they see firsthand at the clinic on a regular basis.

“When you drive by in the morning, you make sure there are no boxes on your step,” she says.

“The other thing that people will do, is that they will come in and rush out the door, saying they forgot something.”

Mandatory microchipping of animals has been discussed as a solution – one that Higgins has suggested to the Nova Scotia Minister of Agriculture. Higgins says the law must also be extended to protect feral cats.

“There are cats doused in gasoline, set on fire, there are cats killed by anti-freeze, there are cats tortured everyday in our city,” she says.

Thankfully, she says Mary is one cat that won’t have to live in fear anymore. Once she is completely healthy, steps will be taken to find Mary a good home.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Ron Shaw