Missing cat returns skinned

Amy Husak's cats are free to wander her neighborhood just south of Mills Park, so there is no cause for alarm if she doesn't see them as soon as she returns home.

But the week before Halloween, two of Husak's cats, weren't seen for days until her black cat Whizbang returned home with a gaping wound either caused by man or a tangle with an unidentified piece of machinery.

"He was skinned," Husak said Thursday. "From his spine right above his tail, the skin was missing down three or four inches. A big square patch of skin was gone, and you could see his muscles."

Both Husak and her vet agreed, the damage to Whizbang could not have been caused by another animal.

"I couldn't think of any accident that would do anything like that," she said. "We both thought it was a person who had done that. They sliced right through the muscle on his back leg."

Two surgeries and $1,500 later, Whizbang is recovering in a Minden kennel and Husak is left wondering who would do such a thing.

Though the money is more than she probably can afford, for Husak, there was no other choice.

"He fought so hard to get away from whoever did that, that he deserves a chance to be able to make it through this," she said. "Last year, two days before Halloween my black cat disappeared and I never saw him again, and this year my black cat got turned into a jack-o-lantern."

Husak's orange tabby is still missing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Carson City Sheriff's Department at 887-2007 and reference case number 2006-7599.

First-offense animal cruelty is a misdemeanor and carries a penalty of two days to six months in jail and between 48 and 120 hours of community service.

Third-offense animal cruelty is a felony and carries a penalty of one to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

• Contact reporter F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.