ROANOKE, Va. – “It was tough...it was tough.”
Ripley, an indoor cat, got out of her home near Highland Avenue just a few weeks ago — for only a couple of hours before her owner found her with a pen shoved up her rectum.
“It was inserted about halfway into her rectum and it was inserted pretty far with a lot of force, because it tore the rectum, it tore inside all the way up to the colon,” said Angie Miller, owner of Veterinarians for Cats.
Ripley’s owner rushed her to Veterinarians for Cats where the workers immediately started to work on the cat, but ultimately had to put the cat down due to extreme injuries.
“If we could have fixed that cat we would have fixed her but the damage was so extensive that there was no way that she would have recovered.”
Angel Miller, the owner of Veterinarians for Cats said the call about Ripley was upsetting to hear but it didn’t sink in until she saw the cat in person.
“The emotions set in when we actually saw the cat. Because she was so sweet and just wanted to be loved and thinking of what she went through.”
Now, the reward for information that leads to a conviction is up to $10,000, all contributions from community members who just want justice.
“Please come forward and help us find who did this to Ripley, it’s not fair to her, it’s not fair to the community, to have somebody out there doing this because they could do this like I said to a person or a child and we worry about the community.”
Roanoke City Police said they are investigating all leads as they come. If you have any information you can reach out to Veterinarians for Cats for Animal Control.