Huge hissing cat roaming Detroit streets, no more ...

[Hum]

Residents of a northeast Detroit neighborhood have been cautious when venturing out on their local streets because a huge hissing cat has been spotted roaming the area for a month. Resident, Reginique Williams described the cat to WJBK Fox 2 news, ?It?s tall. It has long arms, a very long tail, and a small head.?

 

Witnesses in the area around Joann Street south of 8 mile say it is as tall as 4 feet and the extra large 30-pound feline walks around unafraid of humans. Another young resident said, ?I was just looking at it and that?s when it looked like an evil thing. So I just, I just ran.?

 

However experts from Paws for the Cause Feral Cat Rescue, who are trying to trap and save the cat, say the feline is likely more afraid of humans than the neighbors are of it. Matt Bruzek, Director of the organization, identified the breed saying, ?It?s a Savannah cat. They?re bred with an African Serval and a domestic cat and depending on how far down the breeding chain they are they can be fairly wild.? Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek added, ?My guess is someone had it that wasn?t familiar with the breed. Thought it was a really cool thing to have. Decided it wasn?t for whatever reason, and threw it outside.?

Vondell Boyer, vice president of the Greenbrier Council neighborhood association where the cat was seen, echoed concern of the residents and is worried that once the large cat runs out of prey like squirrels, rabbits and small animals, it may target children.

 

Reportedly Detroit Police and Animal Control were called but allegedly did not respond. Recently, the Michigan Humane Society said they would investigate. Tom McPhee of Ann Arbor?s World Animal Awareness Society said that there are 10-20 stray cats in Detroit for every stray dog.

 

McPhee added that the recent reports of 50,000 stray dogs in the city were over estimations. However the number of felines still amounts to a substantial figure, and has not been helped by budget constraints of nearby Oakland County, which has forced the discontinuation of programs to round up stray cats.

source & video

[xreyuk]

You Americans are crazy.

[Hum]

I want, as a pet.

[MorganX]

Only in Detroit, lol.

[ZakO]

Residents of a northeast Detroit neighborhood have been cautious when venturing out on their local streets

 

Standard practice for Detroit anyway.

[Hum]

Residents of a northeast Detroit neighborhood have been cautious when venturing out on their local streets ...

 

 

 

Maybe the criminals will stay off the streets. ;)

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

The cat is must have mutated and grown from the radiation in the Detroit wasteland!

[Buttus]

Yes, catch it to breed with other big cats!  have house cat tigers!   hahah

[Growled Member]

That ain't nothing to be afraid of. What would these people do if they ran into a panther in the woods?

[Phantom Helix]

IF it is a Savannah and one generation from the Serval It is very possible that it will be very afraid of people, Full Blown Servals if kept as pets are usually given to their owners as close to birth as possible as the cats make a very strong  life long bond with the owners, so much so that they can not been given to other people after the bond has been made and as a result never take to kindly to other people.

 

I really want a full serval, but they are not legal in Minnesota and i don't have enough land, but a huge cat with the attitude and personality of a dog that makes such a strong bond with the Owner, that sounds like the perfect pet to me

 

 

[Nashy]

You have some of the most laughable gun control laws in the western world, and you can't shoot a cat?  God help us.

[+Warwagon MVC]

That's one big god damn ######!

[DocM]

These run just 30 lbs, about the same weight as a Maine Coon, a standard pet breed.. We had a big male Maine Coon when I was a kid - damned thing acted more like a dog. OTOH, there are truely wild bobcats throughout Michigan and big males can run 40-45 lbs.

[Hum]

I would hate to clean his litter box ....

[ILikeTobacco]

Looks like a bobcat mix to me.

http://a-z-animals.com/media/animals/images/470x370/bobcat1.jpg

[Growled Member]

Looks like a bobcat mix to me.

http://a-z-animals.com/media/animals/images/470x370/bobcat1.jpg

I agree. We call them panthers in my neck of the woods. :)

[Hum]

Savannah Cat Killed and Thrown in the Garbage :/

 

A 25-pound Savannah cat named Chum that escaped from his family?s open window on the east side of Detroit, was found killed and thrown in a trash can.

A Savannah is a cross between an African serval and a domestic cat. Chum was 3-years old and had lived with his family since he was 4 months. He was about 2 feet tall from floor to head when sitting.

Chum made headlines last week when alarmed residents began spotting him walking through the neighborhood.

"It wasn't normal," Paul Hatley told USA Today. "It didn't run away like a normal cat. It just stared at you. ... It was scary."

Detroit Animal Control and the Detroit Humane Society were called, but neighbors said they couldn?t get them to respond.

Reports that the cat was as large as 4 feet tall and sensational headlines might have sealed Chum?s fate. Acting on a tip, a rescue group looking for the large feline found his body in a garbage can after he was shot to death by a resident of the neighborhood.

"I think people can't just go around shooting things they don't understand," Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek of Paws for the Cause, the feral cat rescue group that found Chum, told USA Today in a follow up story this week. "I think we need to be a little bit more respectful of the animals and human beings around us. I'd love to see someone look into it and investigate it. But I'm not holding out a lot of hope. This whole thing from the beginning has just been a mess."

Chum, like many Savannah cats was spotted like a leopard. "I don't think it was the size as much as the coloration that scared people," Wilhelm-Bruzek said.

Savannah cats are considered an exotic breed and were introduced in the U.S. in 1997. They?re sold for thousands of dollars.

Chum?s family is devastated by his death.

more

[Xerino]

OMG, I knew OCP dropped the ball somewhere, must be a "Robocop-cat" prototype

[Shiranui]

The guy talking in the video is annoying as hell. what is it with idiots anymore using that stupid doofus voice?

Almost as bad as those people who misuse "anymore".

[Albert]

where the frag is robocop.

 

edit: damn. someone beat me to it.

[Athlonite]

 

 

"I think people can't just go around shooting things they don't understand," Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek of Paws for the Cause,

 

Erm yes they can it's the American way 

[Hum]

"I think people can't just go around shooting things they don't understand,"

 

No wonder Aliens are so careful. ;)

[theyarecomingforyou]

Reports that the cat was as large as 4 feet tall and sensational headlines might have sealed Chum?s fate. Acting on a tip, a rescue group looking for the large feline found his body in a garbage can after he was shot to death by a resident of the neighborhood.

 

"I think people can't just go around shooting things they don't understand," Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek of Paws for the Cause, the feral cat rescue group that found Chum, told USA Today in a follow up story this week. "I think we need to be a little bit more respectful of the animals and human beings around us. I'd love to see someone look into it and investigate it. But I'm not holding out a lot of hope. This whole thing from the beginning has just been a mess."

Humans have a hard enough time in Detroit, so expecting animals to be safe just isn't realistic. If ever there was a use for nuclear weapons it would be to level Detroit.

[ANON86364]

This story really makes me sad. We have a F1 Bengal and I fear if he ever got lost, someone would indeed think he's a wild animal and maybe hurt him. Luckily we haven't ever had an accident like that.