Confusion, Cash and Celebrity Surround Zombie Cat A.K.A. Bart
There have been threats to storm the hospital to grab him. It is difficult to know where to start in this updating story. You may remember Bart the cat who has been unkindly called “Zombie Cat” because he dug himself out of a grave where he had been placed after his owner, Hutson, thought he had been killed on the road. That is his story. There are doubts.
Bart. Bless him.
Mr Hutson has a neighbor whose name is Dusty Albritton. Dusty made a video which you can see below. In the video a voice says that when they found Bart on the road he was “moving and stuff”. This indicates he was alive when found. Dusty Albritton says that the woman who thought that Bart was moving was mistaken. She claims that the woman was in shock and made a bad judgement.
The people who are now looking after him, Humane Society of Tampa Bay, say they will not return Bart to his owner after extensive treatment at their hospital.
They are not convinced of the veracity of Hutson’s account. They suspect foul play and cat abuse but have no firm evidence. There are suspicions that he might have been alive when he was buried, if he was buried at all.
The whole thing is highly confusing which is now being compounded by the fact that Dusty Albritton started a crowd funding page to raise cash for Bart’s medical expenses. She has raised over $7,000 thus far, which is far more than she had envisaged.
The money is not required for Bart’s medical expenses because the Humane Society hospital are able the fund medical treatment themselves through an emergency fund and donations.
As a result, Dusty has stated that she will return the money to those who donated and any money remaining will be given to charity including the Tampa Bay Veterinary Emergency Service. Will this happen when the dust has settled (pardon the pun).
In the meantime, it seems Bart is being attended to around-the-clock. He needs extensive medical care. He has regained his appetite and has even purred but we know a cat can purr for all sorts of reasons other than being content.
Bart is making progress but has some way to go. What is not making progress is the search for the truth. What exactly happened? Was Bart assaulted by his owner? We don’t know. Mr Hutson denies any wrongdoing and is demanding his cat back, when he is well. Indeed, there are calls from other people on the internet supporting him in his demand.
It actually goes further than that. As mentioned, there has been a phone call threat from an anonymous person or persons that people will be storming the Humane Society hospital to reclaim Bart for his owner. This has put the hospital on notice and they have been advised by the police to call them should the threat be carried out.
To add to the confusion, Bart not only has his celebrity name “Zombie Cat” but he also has a nickname which is Markie.
How will this saga end? Well, Hutson is going to have to go to court to obtain a court order to recover his cat because the Executive Director of the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, Sherry Silk, is determined to ensure Bart’s safety and she is not convinced that by returning him to his owner he will be safe. Accordingly, she declares that she is prepared to fight in the courts if needs be but she has stated that she may lose the court battle.
I believe that she is saying this because like everybody else we don’t know the truth behind the injuries suffered by this black-and-white random bred cat who’s lost his eye and his privacy.
Where there is abuse there are lies and there is fog. I am on the side of the Humane Society. They are asking that Hutson hands his cat over to them. Although he currently refuses, I believe he’ll comply in due course. Update: Hutson has sued for the return of his cat! He must be confident.