Forest is a sweet and friendly black and white cat who was in a potentially terrible predicament when animal rescuers happened upon him while out in the woods looking for a lost dog.
Thanks to that chance circumstance, he was rescued and his caregivers set out to find him a good home.
Janet Zimmermann discovered Forest when she and and other search volunteers from the Spring, Texas area were looking for the lost dog. Janet heard meowing and was shocked to find the cat chained in the woods with a padlock around his neck.
When speaking with Houston’s ABC 13 News for a story on Forest, Janet expressed her fears over the nefarious activities that might have been in store for Forest. There are no leads in the case, though, and the motivation for chaining Forest remains unknown.
Janet tried to foster Forest but her own senior cat was too disturbed by his presence, so she turned to Stuebner Airline Champions Veterinary Hospital, where he was welcomed, given his neuter surgery and made available for adoption.
When ABC 13 News ran a feature on the story the clinic was deluged with offers to adopt the formerly unlucky cat, so it appears he is guaranteed a home. The clinic began the process of answering inquiries on October 27 and wrote at Facebook about the sort of home forest required, saying: “We will work diligently to find his purr fect home. We will be placing him in an indoor,non dog home,pending a veterinary reference and application approval.”
The clinic shared photos and the following text from a posting by the group Cooper’s Cat Commune that told more about the rescue and Forest’s status: On Oct 18 while searching for a dog who had escaped from her owner’s home, a rescue volunteer heard meowing. She tracked the sound down to some small trees and underbrush and was shocked by what she found. There amidst some thorny branches or vines was a black and white cat…CHAINED TO A TREE. The chain itself was PADLOCKED around his neck. The group she was helping agreed to take him in to their program if she could foster him. She agreed and one week later she was in a panic because her senior (only) cat was vomiting and hiding from the stress. The group had no other space for him, so she contacted us at the clinic. The doctors agreed to try to adopt him out. He is between 1 and 2 years old, FeLV/FIV negative, vaccinated, and will be neutered at clinic expense this week. He is **very** friendly with people. I don’t know how he does with other cats since her senior cat is a nervous girl anyway. He does have a strong aversion to dogs.
Janet spoke with channel 13 for their story and had this to say about finding Forest with the chain padlocked around his neck: “It was no accident. Someone did this to him. Maybe as dog or animal bait, maybe as a Halloween sacrifice. I was shocked — stunned.”
“I went to a hardware store, and we used bolt cutters to get it off. It was wrapped so tight around his neck it was hard to do,” she said.
Dr Barry Schmitt praised Forest and his good disposition despite what he’d been through, saying, “I can’t imagine how I’d behave if I had gone through that.”
Dr Schmidt said Forest was in good health and is extremely friendly.
Vet tech Mimi Baker added: “He came up to me and rubbed against my leg. He’s so affectionate, such a great cat.”
Thanks to the chance encounter when good hearted people were out looking for a lost dog, Forest was saved and will now have a good life in a loving home.
Watch the ABC 13 News report on the story:
Oh my God……please find the bastards who did this !! Chain them naked in the woods with the chain bolted around their necks and let nature take its course. How cruel sick and evil !! Lord only knows how many they did this to before this precious life was found. Someone knows something about who did this….be a human being with a heart and turn in the creeps…let them face punishment. It rips at my heart to think how long he had been out there and how terrofied he must have been. Thank you to the heroes who saved him…..you are angels on earth !! I pray Forest finds himself in a loving safe forever home and never outside again. Just stunned at how vicious people can be to creatures that cannot fight back or defend themselves…..find these pigs !!