Around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, two deputies with the LACSD noticed a suspicious vehicle parked behind a closed business in Santa Clarita. According to Lt. Brenda Cambra, as deputies approached the vehicle they observed a jar of syringes. This gave them grounds to search the vehicle for drugs.
During the search, the officers found a cat named Lilly in an animal carrier. She had been stuffed upside down in the carrier and both her front and hind legs were tied together with electrical tape. After this tape was removed it was discovered each individual paw was also wrapped in tape.
The cat could not move and meowed in distress as deputies untied her legs. Deputy Adam Halloran said, “It (the cat) was not happy…That’s what was attracting our attention, something kind of calling to us.” He also said, “When I first saw the cat, I was like ‘no way’, the cat was up on its side…It was crammed in the back…I own cats, that’s not how a cat should be treated.”
A 26-year-old woman and her 23-year-old boyfriend were in the vehicle. In addition to the cat, police found a substance they believe to be heroin and it is believed the woman is Lilly’s owner. Both face charges of felony drug possession and felony animal cruelty.
When the couple was asked why they tied the cat like they did, the woman answered “because it had been scratching.” As Halloran noted, that’s what cats do.
The names of the couple are not being released because of an ongoing drug investigation.
Lilly was taken to a vet and then handed over to Animal Care and Control. She was described by deputies as a loving cat and hopefully will be adopted out.
