WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – The Animal Services section of the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect or suspects who set a stray cat on fire in West Sacramento last week, causing the cat to be euthanized.
Melanie Hatchett and her friend were walking near Circle Park in West Sacramento at 11:15 p.m. Wednesday night when they saw what appeared to be a ball of fire moving through park.
“It was completely engulfed in flames,” said Melanie Hatchett.
Hatchett says a flash lit up the darkness.
“Her entire body was charred on top. There was no fur on the bottom, it looked like,” said Hatchett. “It was the most terrible sight in the entire world.”
The cat obeyed its instincts and rolled in the grass, trying to put the flames out.
“And it ran into the grass next to the tree over there, trying to roll itself out from being on fire,” said Hatchett. “She was meowing like crazy; in so much pain. She was laying there meowing and looking at us and staring at us and just saying: ‘help me.’”
Hatchett and her friend called authorities and stayed with the cat until Yolo Animal Services arrived.
