Savannah Cat Roaming the Streets of Detroit Killed and Thrown in the Garbage

[fred gatz]

A 25-pound Savannah cat named Chum that escaped from his
family’s open window on the east side of Detroit, was found
killed and thrown in a trash can.

A Savannah is a cross between an African serval and a domestic
cat. Chum was 3-years old and had lived with his family since he
was 4 months. He was about 2 feet tall from floor to head when
sitting.

Chum made headlines last week when alarmed residents began
spotting him walking through the neighborhood.

"It wasn't normal," Paul Hatley told USA Today. "It didn't run
away like a normal cat. It just stared at you. ... It was scary."

Detroit Animal Control and the Detroit Humane Society were
called, but neighbors said they couldn’t get them to respond.

Reports that the cat was as large as 4 feet tall and sensational
headlines might have sealed Chum’s fate. Acting on a tip, a
rescue group looking for the large feline found his body in a
garbage can after he was shot to death by a resident of the
neighborhood.

"I think people can't just go around shooting things they don't
understand," Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek of Paws for the Cause, the
feral cat rescue group that found Chum, told USA Today in a
follow up story this week. "I think we need to be a little bit
more respectful of the animals and human beings around us. I'd
love to see someone look into it and investigate it. But I'm not
holding out a lot of hope. This whole thing from the beginning
has just been a mess."

Chum, like many Savannah cats was spotted like a leopard. "I
don't think it was the size as much as the coloration that
scared people," Wilhelm-Bruzek said.

Savannah cats are considered an exotic breed and were introduced
in the U.S. in 1997. They’re sold for thousands of dollars.

Chum’s family is devastated by his death.

This did not happen in the area of Detroit where as many as
50,000 abandoned dogs are said to roam the streets.

It is, however, a good reminder that no pets should be allowed
to roam and great care should be taken to ensure they do not
escape their homes or houses, especially if they are from a
rare, exotic breed that people may not understand.

All pets should also be microchipped.

Comments:

9/04/2013 10:08am
Detroit is a disaster and truly savages live there.... Friends
of our moved out of there LONG ago because of the savage culture
there. This would NEVER happen in our town. We are not savages
here. We not only respect human life but we also respect animal
life. You could not pay me to live in Detroit.

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