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Cats Injured in Traps Find Forever Homes

By Rachel Ousley

Story Created: Jan 31, 2012 at 11:05 PM MDT

Story Updated: Jan 31, 2012 at 11:40 PM MDT

It was last Thursday when a cat was found in a trap in Great Falls. The cat's leg had to be amputated because of his injuries. This is actually the second cat to lose a limb because of a trap this month in the city. Yet, there is a happy ending in sight for both felines.

Animals that need loving homes crowd shelters everywhere, but stories like these bring out the generosity of the community to ensure animals like George and Dewy find forever homes.

Jamie Bennett is the Operations Director of the Great Falls Animal Shelter. She explains, “it touches peoples’ hearts. It’s a very tough thing to have an animal be in a trap injured”.

The first cat, Dewy was caught in an illegal trap January 19th. Now he is doing fine and already has a new family waiting for him. Originally, the Edwards planned on taking Dewy home, but along came George.

Krystina Edwards says, “there he was and we were the first to put in an application in for him, so it was just meant to be”. When the Edwards went to the shelter to ask about adopting Dewy, he was already adopted. George, on the other hand, had just arrived.

George was discovered Thursday in a trap. Like Dewy, he lost his leg to his injuries. Today is doing just fine. Bennett explains, “he can still jump, still roam around. It doesn’t mean you don’t want to assist him every now and then, but he can still do it”.

The Edwards recently lost their own cat, Mr. Bigglesworth, and when they heard Dewy and George's stories, they knew they had to help. Edwards says it just breaks your heart to hear of a cat losing a limb, being frozen to the trap. In addition wanting companionship after the loss of Mr. Bigglesworth, she says, “we want to give him a good home, so he never has to worry anymore”.

The shelter thinks the two cases is simply an unusual coincident. Bennett says, “we deal with trapped animals, but not as severe. Its in the humane traps, these were done with inhumane traps”.

Such tragic stories bring out the best in the community. Bennett says, “people that are very generous will donate bedding and funds to help cover the medical costs”.

It didn't take long for them to find forever homes. Today George was put up for adoption, the same day the Edwards took their new companion home. Edwards explains, “we would have adopted anyway whether it was him or not, we would’ve saved another cat”.
Pets are just like children to the Edwards, part of the family. They've discovered when you need another family member to love, it’s better to save a life rather than buy a new pet.

The Edwards are big Austin Powers fans. George is filling the void left by the late Mr. Bigglesworth and becoming a companion to their dog, Mojo. From now on George will likely be known as Goldmember.

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Anonymous said on Wednesday, Feb 1 at 4:16 PM

great story! well done! Nice people to adopt the cat! Thank you.

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