Over the weekend came a horrific vision: Scruffy, a cat from Royal Oaks, California, was found valiantly hobbling along his owners’ driveway with a bear trap ensnared on his leg. The tabby has miraculously survived but might require a paw amputation. (Warning: Some of the following images are not be for the squeamish.)
After seeing Scruffy caught in the trap, his owners, Stephanie and Larry Waldrip, rushed him to the East Lake Animal Clinic in nearby Watsonville. The head vet David Carroll and a nurse spent more than an hour freeing Scruffy from the trap. It is estimated that if a human stepped onto the bear trap, she could have easily broken an ankle.
“He’s a scrapper,” the vet told the KSBW news station, before adding that Scruffy apparently has no feeling in his toes and so may need to undergo surgery to remove one of his paws.
Scruffy’s owners are said to suspect a nearby resident of having laid down the bear trap but they have refrained from going on record about it. They first came across Scruffy a year ago when they noticed him lounging in their driveway and have since become the cat’s owners or at least feeding masters.
At the moment, the local SCPA is investigating the sickening matter and trying to ascertain who laid down the trap that has mauled the poor cat. You can watch more about Scruffy’s plight in the video below.
Read stories of rescue on Catster:
- What I’ve Learned While Caring for a Feral Cat in a Very Cold Climate
- Let’s Start the New Year Off With an Aww-Worthy Rescue Story
- Army Medical Officer Could Face a Jail Sentence for Saving Pregnant Cat
About Phillip Mlynar: The self-appointed world’s foremost expert on rappers’ cats. When not penning posts on rap music, he can be found building DIY cat towers for his adopted domestic shorthair, Mimosa, and collecting Le Creuset cookware (in red). He has also invented cat sushi, but it’s not quite what you think it is.
