Cat tied to truck, dragged
Bremerton, WA (US)

Date: Aug 8, 2005
County: Kitsap

A little black cat named Bugs was dragged behind the back of a truck through Bremerton and it survived. Tha cat, named Bugs, is in reportedly tremendous shock and pain.

"Right when I pulled in, I got out of my truck, came around to the back of it and saw a cat strung up right there," said Jim Hepper, who found the cat on the morning of Aug 8.

He and his roommate, Chris Washburn, both emergency medical technicians in Bremerton, Wash., drove 3 miles to work, not knowing their neighbor's cat was tied to his rear axle of their pickup.

Bugs' owner said she often chains the cat to the bumper of her car to keep it from running away. Now Animal Control is investigating who unchained Bugs sometime Sunday night and attached him to the neighbor's truck instead. "Given the fact of the injuries, they really seem to be superficial at this point. If the cat has additional complications, that remains to be seen," said Dr. Dave Luttinen.

The vet says Bugs is not completely out of the woods. There is still a risk that he might suffer an infection from his injuries.


"I hate to think someone had malicious intent to tie a cat to someone's truck knowing what would happen," said Hepper.

Bugs suffered road burn on 40 percent of his body, and lost all his pads and claws. He is in tremendous shock and pain, but the vet was stunned to see he didn't have a broken bone in his body.