Valiente is recuperating at the Humane Society of Pensacola after a terrible incident that left her injured and lucky to be alive. Humane Society staff named the friendly girl Valiente, which means brave, because of the way she has coped with the abuse that injured her.
A couple saw the young cat, estimated to be about 6 months old, limping around their Pensacola, FL neighborhood on Saturday and brought her to the Pensacola Humane Society for help. She had been doused with an accelerant and set on fire, with her legs bound together using zip ties. Lacerations on her side, and her burnt fur made it clear that she had been lit on fire, though no one is known to have seen the incident. Valiente’s fur has the feel of melted plastic, her skin is stretched tight, her ears are melted and shriveled, and her whiskers are gone.
HS managing director Sarah Humlie told the Pensacola News Journal the veterinarian working with Valiente is still assessing the extent of her injuries and does not yet know if she will need skin graft surgeries. As we have seen in past cases with Bernice and Dutchess, a cat’s skin can shrink as burned tissue heals, and sometimes skin grafts are required. Director Humlie said, “We’re kind of waiting to see how things heal and what’s going to happen. Because all of the skin that was burned is dying or going to die.”
The director described Valiente as very affectionate and says she is able to eat and drink on her own. In the video below, she us purring, and kneads her bedding as she gets attention. The burned kitty is doing well but has a long healing process ahead of her.
Valiente will stay in a loving foster home where she can get continuing care during her recovery, and she is expected to be made available for adoption when she is healed.
The incident has been reported to Animal Control, but there is no case without a witness or a suspect.
Sarah Humlie is quoted in the paper saying “It just makes me sick that somebody is capable of that kind of cruelty. I feel like if you can do terrible acts like that to an animal, you’re one step away from doing that to a human.”
Despite the horrible act of cruelty done to her, Valiente will survive, thanks to her strong spirit, the good Samaritans who rescued her and the help she is getting from animal lovers.
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Even though there was not a witness, people should always report any animal abuse. You never know when half of an estranged couple will rat the other out for it, or acquaintances they might have told the story to become disgusted by it. We need tougher laws and longer sentences for these abusers, because a pet abuser almost always abuses humans in their lives, too.
beyond belief what humans do…!
One case is bad enough, but it seems like it is becoming an epidemic…people that do this crap start off by torturing defenseless animals, and move on to torturing people sooner or later. In our area, if you leave you animals unguarded, they get stolen and sold to science labs. I find this case particular disturbing because she looks so much my Devon (though she does not look like a full breed), and she has the same markings.
If the person that did this burns in Hell for eternity, it is still not enough punishment for them!