ROCK HILL, S.C. — According to FBI crime data, South Carolina is ranked 14th in the country for incidents of animal abuse. Many of those animals end up receiving treatment in rescue groups which take on the financial burden for their care.
One rescue in Rock Hill is working to protect these animals and told Channel 9’s Eli Brand these vital resources are in crisis.
Rachael Dowd says she is an animal lover, especially when it comes to cats. She’s fostered and cared for kittens before, but she recently took in a kitten with a more remarkable story than the rest.
Dowd met Smokey on the shoulder of Interstate 77 near the North-South Carolina state line.
She said she saw something being thrown from a truck in front of her. Dowd assumed it was garbage at first, but something made her stop.
It was Smokey, and she was bleeding, with a broken jaw.
“I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around why somebody could do that,” she said.
Dowd said when she found her, she was only two weeks old.
“All she knew was fear and pain,” Dowd said. “I wanted to make sure she never felt that again.”
After taking in the kitten, the extensive medical treatments drained Dowd’s bank account. Eventually, she reached out to Spooky Whiskers Feral Cat Rescue in Rock Hill for help.
The founder, Crystal Wedra, and her partner with the rescue, Kaitlyn Zarick, are now tending to Smokey’s every need.
The rescue pays for medication, food, and emergency visits for dozens of kittens in their care.
They say all of those cats have unique stories, and Smokey’s history isn’t all that unusual.
“Smokey was the fourth cat that we had seen in two months, specifically thrown out on a highway,” Wedra said.
She said she’s also taken in cats used as bait in dog fights, shot, and even drowned.
Unfortunately, none of that comes cheap.
She says Spooky Whiskers spent nearly $20,000 on medical procedures between February and June of this year. Thousands more also has to be spent on food.
Wedra is a full-time firefighter and makes just under $19 an hour. She says she also spends all of her free time tending to the cats.
Spooky Whiskers isn’t the only rescue facing similar issues. Wedra says the financial burden and hours cause most rescues to close within a year at a time when animal overpopulation is a crisis.
“It comes at a very big cost,” Wedra said. “They’re not able to fix their own homes, their cars, they’re having trouble getting things for their kids or putting food on the table.”
Wedra says all rescues need help, now more than ever, so cats, like Smokey, can get the second chance at life that they need.
“Look at her now,” Wedra said. “That’s what every kitten deserves.”
Dowd said the progress Smokey has made is astounding.
“The fact that she can close her mouth and eat on her own is huge,” she said. “Her face is just so much more full of life, and her eyes especially.”
Wedra says the best thing you can do to help is find local rescues and donate money, time, or food and other necessities.
For ways to help Spooky Whiskers Feral Cat Rescue with their efforts, visit their Linktree >>>
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