(KNX 1070) -- A local Plymouth, Pennsylvania SPCA humane officer is investigating a suspicious case of animal cruelty after several cats have been discovered with fish hooks in their mouths.
Volunteers with Happy Hearts and Tails Safe Haven Animal Rescue posted photos on their Facebook page of the 15 cats they've rescued so far are from an abandoned house in Plymouth.
“There was a string with a hook, and then he put food on it, dangling for the cat and the cat ate it,” Dawn Mandygral, who runs the rescue group, told WNEP. “He deliberately-he was fishing for cats. That's what he said.”
The cats were treated at a local animal hospital with facial wounds and found with fish hooks still trapped in their mouths.
The veterinary surgeon who's treated the cats says the care is complicated and costly.
“Take the string out from the stomach, that costs money,” said Dr. Inayat Kathio says. “Drained the abscesses from the cat and give them the treatment. That costs lots of money.”
Mandygral says she believes there are more cats that need to be rescued. A humane officer with the Luzerne County SPCA says they're aware of the person they believe is doing this to the cats, and they're investigating.
Mandygral says she hopes the person is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.