Regrettably, the staff at Douglas County Animal Care & Services in Gardnerville, Nevada, is no stranger to encountering instances of anonymous animal dumping outside regular work hours. However, this particular case was even more heartbreaking than usual.
Upon arriving at the shelter one morning, shelter supervisor Liz Begovich and her colleagues discovered an animal carrier containing a massive ball of unidentifiable fluff. “All we saw was a matted mess,” Liz shared with The Dodo.
The shelter staff pondered over the identity of this poor creature. Their initial assumption was that it must be a dog, as dogs are typically less meticulous about grooming than cats. It was time to open the carrier and unveil the truth. Liz explained, “We couldn’t turn him around because of the way he was shoved in the carrier. So we took the top off and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a cat!’ I’ve never seen a cat in that sort of condition.”
The situation was dire. The cat was essentially a prisoner within its own fur, struggling to move beneath the tangled, matted layers. Additionally, the cat was overweight due to a lack of exercise. It seemed that whoever had owned him merely provided food and water, placing it right under his nose.
“We immediately took him to the vet where they sedated him,” Liz continued. “They shaved about 4.5 pounds of hair off of him. It filled a full-size kitchen trash bag.” The sudden freedom immediately lifted the confidence of the previously dreadlocked cat, who they cheekily named Bob Marley. “Once the hair was off, he was walking around. I saw him looking up at the counter thinking, ‘I can jump up there.’ I thought, ‘No you can’t.’”
Bob now enjoys the comforts of a loving home, where he can recover from years of neglect and shed those excess pounds he’s been carrying around. Despite being 10 years old, he still has many good years ahead of him. Transformed into a handsome feline, Bob was adopted within a few days of his remarkable makeover.
Authorities are actively investigating to locate Bob’s previous owner. The individual who left him was captured on CCTV, and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying this person. While it’s possible the man was a Good Samaritan who rescued Bob and brought him to the shelter for treatment, no one knows for sure. Liz herself remains uncertain but harbors doubts about any benevolent intentions from the mystery man. She commented, “Normally, when someone leaves an animal after hours, there’s usually more to the story. It’s typically not a Good Samaritan who found an animal on the side of the road. We would really like to know the backstory. There could be other animals in this house, wherever this cat came from, who are in the same condition.”
Regardless, the truth will undoubtedly surface in due course. The paramount aspect is that Bob is now content, cherished, and liberated from his previous shackles.
