Abused and bound cat finds good home

RITZVILLE – Police are looking for leads on who left a cat with her legs zip tied together on Railroad Avenue April 5.

The police were called around 2 p.m. when an employee at a local business discovered the animal crying for help. Officer Tom Gracie responded, cutting the zip ties off.

"I asked him what would happen now, and he said there was nothing more he could do," Michelle Haggart said. "It appeared to be a stray, but he was also concerned for its well-being, seeing as how it was so friendly and sick. There was nowhere to take the kitten to get it help, so I immediately posted it online, since I had to get to work and I wanted the poor kitten to find a home and the help it needed."

Melody Bartlett, who saw the post on Facebook, called Adams County Pet Rescue in Othello.

"They didn't have the available staff to come," Bartlett said, leaving work at nearby Gigamedics to check on it.

"By the time I showed up, he was sitting there with a cup of water, howling. He was friendly and came to me, so I picked him up and took him home," Bartlett said.

She took the cat to veterinarian Tim Johnstone, and discovered it was a six-month-old female. "She has an issue with her eye, which looks to be caused by a chemical burn and she may have permanent eye damage," Bartlett said, adding the cat got her shots and would return in a few weeks for her second dose, checkup and spaying.

"SNYP, being the amazing organization they are, has offered to pay for fixing her," Bartlett said.

Leslie Priest Greenwalt, a board member with SNYP (Spay Neuter Your Pet) said they provide cost assistance to residents of Ritzville, Lind, Washtucna and Sprague to spay or neuter pets.

"In this case, we are covering the whole cost," Greenwalt said.

Greenwalt said she and fellow board members Mikki Kison and Janet Bowman have a Facebook page where they put out a notice when funds are available for low-income residents to receive a coupon to go towards the cost of spaying or neutering a pet at Ritzville Vet Clinic.

"Michelle's the one who raised the alarm, so she probably saved her life," Bartlett said, adding animal cruelty is a Class C Felony in Washington state.

"Her new name is Karma," Bartlett said.

Police Chief Dave McCormick said they were following a lead and hoped to soon have news to report soon.

So while Karma has certainly found a good home, residents of Ritzville are hoping karma finds the right home.