Cat at Animal Control Bloodied, Jaw Broken

SALISBURY, N.C. – Cooper the cat is resting comfortably now. But just a few days ago, the animal was bleeding, his jaw broken in several places. WCCB News @ Ten anchor Morgan Fogarty asked Dr. Marguerite Gleason of The Carolinas Animal Hospital and Dental Clinic, who surgically fixed Cooper’s jaw Friday, if that injury caused him a lot of pain.

She said, “Sure. It’s just like if we fractured our jaw.”

Disturbing pictures of Cooper before he received medical attention are plastered all over social media, urging people to file complaints. And complain they did. So much so that the state Department of Agriculture sent an inspector to the Rowan County Animal Shelter Thursday to figure out why in the world this happened.

They are still investigating.

The animal control officer involved is on paid leave. Rowan County leaders dodged WCCB’s questions Friday, but we still got ahold of an email from county manager Aaron Church where he admits the cat received injuries while at the shelter.

He also wrote: “The county…will be covering all the vet bills.” And also, “…we regret that this occurred and we will continue to make every effort to treat all animals humanely as we improve our policies and the care that animals receive at our facility.

Fogarty asked Sarah Bruce, the president of Precious Furbaby Rescue, “Do you think this could have been avoided?” She replied, “I do. I think that it could have been avoided with proper training, proper tools.”

Bruce regularly pulls cats from the Rowan County Shelter. After Cooper’s story went viral, she was upset to learn the shelter euthanized nine cats Friday morning, six of which she says had not reached the hold deadline. Fogarty asked, “Does that feel like retaliation?” She replied, “Me, personally? Yes. I feel like it needs to be looked into.”

Meantime, Cooper went home with his foster mom Friday night. Debbie Orbison says, “Obviously, Cooper is gonna be taken care of. There’s no doubt he’s gonna be treated like a king from here on out. What he went through, hopefully will help these other animals.”

Some have said Cooper is feral. But, the vet said he allowed her to do an oral exam. And you could see, he was fine with Orbison petting him. The only thing county leaders would tell us Friday: they’re holding a public forum on April 12th at 6PM to develop new animal shelter policies.