After Having Had His Throat and Leg Ripped Open in a Savage Assault, Little Man Needs the Public's Financial Support

"They (veterinarians) had to rebuild the area around his throat. It was an enormous amount of money."
-- Spokesperson for Dewey Animals

In a heartbreaking story currently unfolding in the central Virginia city of Gainesville, a homeless cat is fighting for his life after having had his throat and a rear leg ripped open last week by an unknown assailant. Dubbed Little Man by his caretakers at Dewey Animals in nearby Centreville, he also sustained unspecified injuries to his back. (See photo above.)

Since his discovery in a trailer park, Little Man has undergone emergency surgery on his throat, back, and a rear leg. His injuries were so severe in fact that catheters had to be inserted into both his throat and leg.

Thankfully, the brave little cat is doing somewhat better. According to a November 5th e-mail letter from Dewey Animals, the catheters have been removed and his back and leg wounds are healing. The wounds to his throat, however, will require more time and treatment.

"They (veterinarians) had to rebuild the area around his throat," a spokesperson for Dewey Animals told the Potomac News of Woodbridge on November 2nd. (See "Benefit Concert Held Saturday to Help Injured Cat.") "It was an enormous amount of money."

So far, Little Man's bill stands at $1,400. A benefit was held for him Saturday at Brother's Encore in Montclair featuring the music of, appropriately enough, Soul Kitty 6.

In order that Little Man can continue to receive the medical attention that he so desperately needs, donations are being solicited from the public. Anyone wishing to contribute to his care can send a check or money order to Dewey Animals, P.O. Box 245, Centreville, Virginia 20122-0245.

Additional information about his condition can be obtained by visiting http://members.cox.net/deweyanimals or by e-mailing the rescue group at dewey.animals@cox.net. Get well cards from individuals unable to make a financial contribution also would be much appreciated.

It is a crying shame that rescue groups are forced to badger the public for donations in order to save the lives of injured and sickly animals. Not only do veterinarians charge way too much money for their services, but it would not kill them to do a certain amount of pro bono work. After all, saving the lives of animals should mean more to them than chasing after the almighty dollar.

As to the identity of his attacker, Little Man's doctors insist that he was savaged by another tomcat, but that is unlikely. Cats tend to fight with their claws and then retreat; rarely do they ever go for the throat. Since there were no witnesses to the attack, nobody can say with any certainty what actually happened.

The assailant could have been a raccoon but they do not generally attack cats unless they first have acquired a taste for feline flesh, as so happened last year in Olympia, Washington. (See Cat Defender post of August 28, 2006 entitled "Marauding Pack of Vicious Raccoons Rip Ten House Cats to Shreds and Terrorize Residents but Wildlife Officials Refuse to Intervene.")

The more likely culprit was a fisher. They have been killing cats and attacking dogs from Maine to southern New Jersey for several years and it is entirely possible that they may have migrated into central Virginia by now. Last month, one of them killed sixty-nine turkeys at Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm in Sterling, Connecticut. (See Norwich Bulletin, October 12, 2007, "Fisher Cat Kills Sixty-Nine Turkeys on Local Farm.") In 2004, another fisher killed twenty-two turkeys on the same farm.

More telling is the fact that fishers kill their victims by ripping out their throats and that is precisely what Little Man's attacker attempted to do to him.

Fishers have been reintroduced to the Northeast by wildlife proponents not only to provide income for fur traffickers but also with the explicit purpose to kill cats. (See Cat Defender posts of August 28, 2007 and July 19, 2007 entitled, respectively, "TNR Programs, Domestic Cats, Dogs, and Humans Imperiled by Wildlife Proponents' Use and Abuse of Coyotes and Fishers" and "Up to Their Old Tricks, Wildlife Officials Reintroduce Fishers to the Northeast to Prey Upon Cats and to Provide Income for Fur Traffickers.")

Photo: Potomac News.