Bruce the cat is safely back home, and Alana Reinhardt has her faith in humanity restored.
It was Sunday morning when eight-month Bruce was discovered in the backyard of Reinhardt’s Lumby home with a shattered leg and mangled paw after being caught in a leg-hold trap.
Bruce was immediately rushed to a veterinarian and had emergency surgery to amputate his front right leg at the shoulder.
Reinhardt brought the black-haired cat home just Tuesday afternoon, much to her delight.
“He’s missing his front leg, but he’s pretty chipper,” stated Reinhardt. “He’s looking pretty good right now. He’s a celebrity – everyone is talking about him.”
Reinhardt was stunned anyone could be so cruel as to set out such a barbaric trap.
As word spread, a spontaneous bottle drive was held and even a Go Fund Me page was set up.
“Just about everything got paid for,” Reinhardt stated. “It was well over $2,000.”
“We were sickened after it happened,” she stated. “It was done by one crappy person, but 500-plus people rallied to help us. We are so grateful, we don’t have the words to express.”
Reinhardt explained that RCMP in Vernon and Lumby have been contacted, as has the SPCA.
Reinhardt believes whoever is responsible for setting the trap lives near her Miller Street home because the veterinarian told her Bruce could not have travelled far with such a devastating injury.
Kathy Woodward, who is the SPCA animal protection officer, said there was an investigation last year into someone using live traps to capture cats.
Reinhardt explained that she is not only worried about other pets, but children in the area.
“We’re in a residential area,” she stated. “There are people all around us with pets. This was an old-fashioned leg-hold trap. That would do damage to anyone. If it was a kid, it would maim them.”
