Starved Florida bobcat dies on way to vet, despite rescue efforts: 'I could feel every bone in his body'
Bobcat appears to be starved, injured
Neighbors and animal rescue volunteers are trying to save a bobcat on the brink of death. They stumbled into Merilee Hanson’s Rockledge backyard on Tuesday. She noticed it looked it was starving, and its leg was severely fractured. The bobcat eluded rescuers for two days, but they haven’t given up. The Wild Florida Rescue team says finding the injured animal in the Pine Cove neighborhood is like finding a needle in a haystack. Volunteers set out new traps with fresh food and will check them on Thursday. Neighbors want to see the bobcat out of its misery.
ROCKLEDGE, Fla. - Animal rescue volunteers were able to locate and capture a bobcat that was on the brink of death, according to neighbors, but it sadly died on its way to the vet.
According to Wild Florida Rescue, the bobcat was trapped with a catch pole on Eyster Boulevard, but it was in poor health at the time of its capture. Its breathing wasn't great and the big cat had mucus coming out of its eyes. One of the bobcat's paws was also dislocated and had a potentially septic infection.
"When lifted to put into cage, I could feel every bone in his body," a Wild Florida Rescue official said.
Courtesy of Wild Florida Rescue
FOX 35 News previously reported the bobcat was first discovered earlier this week in the backyard of a woman's home in Rockledge. Merilee Hanson noticed it looked it was starving, and its leg was severely fractured. The bobcat eluded rescuers for two days, but they haven’t given up.
The Wild Florida Rescue team stepped in after receiving several calls about the animal. They, along with neighbors in the area, tried to find the bobcat who disappeared somewhere in a nearby green belt.
'What tore it up like that?': Community racing to rescue starved neighborhood bobcat in Brevard County
A neighborhood in Rockledge and animal rescue volunteers are trying to save a bobcat on the brink of death. The bobcat looks to be starving and its leg is severely fractured.
"To know the end, whether he’s captured and euthanized – whether he’s captured and rehabilitated and just pray for him. Whatever is the end needs to be had. It does need to have a resolution," Hanson said at the time.