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http://www.omniture.com --> Email Story to a Friend June 6, 2006 Abandoned cat thrown from car dies after three days By Meg Landers Mail Tribune After three days of medical intervention and monitoring, a cat thrown from a car was put down Monday morning by the veterinarian who had tried to save his life. "It makes your heart ache to see something like that," said Dr. Steve Poet of Best Friends Animal Hospital in Medford. Jeffrey, a one-year-old silver-gray domestic shorthair, had been thrown out of the window of a car that was travelling an estimated 50 mph along Highway 99 near Scenic Avenue in Central Point Friday, according to a witness account to the Oregon State Police. Local animal placement workers say the crime is not uncommon. "I know cats get dumped all the time," said Poet. "These guys are living beings. Thrown out of a moving car, that pretty much qualifies as abuse." Though he didn't have a scratch on him, Jeffrey suffered a severe head trauma. "His body must have hit first and his head cracked against the ground," Poet speculated. A woman who reported she witnessed the scene brought the cat into the nearby OSP office Friday afternoon. OSP Sgt. Jeffrey Proulx said he took the cat, who became the sergeant's namesake, to Committed Alliance to Strays. He said an inadequate description of the car and no license plate number made it impossible to track down the driver. "We're not going to be able to do anything about it," he said. He said throwing an animal from a moving vehicle would be considered aggravated animal abuse, a Class C felony, worthy of jail time. "Depending on the courts, you're going to serve over a year for something like that," he said. CATS director Jan Whetstone said in her six years with the organization, she's seen at least 20 cases of injured cats that were brought in after having been thrown from a moving car. She hopes to educate the public that there are several organizations that will take unwanted cats. "Part of our mission is to educate the public," she said. Erin Petty, licensing clerk at the county animal shelter, said she and her mother, Donna Patnesky, shelter technician, took home an 8-week-old kitten in 1995 that had been brought in to the shelter by someone who saw the cat thrown from a car window. She said it's fairly common. "We hear about it," said Petty. "Unfortunately nobody ever gets the license plate." She said though she and her mother originally took Kacey, a long-haired lynx point, home temporarily to monitor him, he stayed 10 years. "He was having seizures. He was super duper cross-eyed," she said, adding he walked in clockwise circles. She said they euthanized Kacey last year when the seizures became more severe. Poet said Jeffrey was almost comatose when he was brought in. "He didn't have a mark on him except he was very difficult to rouse," said Poet, who, along with staff, monitored the animal through the weekend and tried to reduce the swelling in the brain. Then Jeffrey began having seizures and seemed to go blind. Poet said he didn't know what else to do for the animal who was visibly worsening. "Maybe if we had a neurosurgeon on call, maybe, maybe not." Jeffrey's care was paid for through donations to CATS and by Best Friends Animal Hospital. Petty said the shelter won't turn away any stray cats, so she can't imagine why someone wouldn't take advantage of that. "I don't understand that," she said. "It doesn't cost anything. It's free." Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] . Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy