Lexington vets caring for cat after man allegedly bit off her ears

Pulaski County man charged in case that left a cat with missing ears

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) – A cat named ‘Bunny’ is beginning a long road to recovery in Lexington after authorities say she was abused. A man allegedly bit off the cat’s ears.

According to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, 22-year-old Zachary Rollins is charged with the torture of a dog or cat after being accused of biting off the cat’s ears.

Veterinarians at Sheabel Veterinary Hospital are treating Bunny after she arrived with serious injuries.

“When she came in Saturday night she had teeth marks and was missing the tips of both ears and pretty nasty and infected, so yesterday we trimmed them back and got healthy tissues there,” said Medical Director of Sheabel Veterinary Hospital, Dr. Michelle Jude.

“She has two broken legs, and so this one is splinted, it’s not displaced a whole lot, and this one’s actually broken at her elbow so our orthopedic surgeon is going fix that today and put a screw in there and fix that,” said Dr. Jude.

Rollins is also facing charges in a separate case from April involving the deaths of two other cats. In a Facebook post, Hope for All Pets Inc., the animal rescue group assisting Bunny, stated that those cats were “killed by strangulation and or suffocation.”

They also said Bunny was pregnant at the time of the attack.

“We spayed her, she was a few weeks pregnant, and with two broken legs, it wouldn’t be easy to carry babies and stuff. So we spayed her yesterday and took her ears off, she’s just been the best cat and purring and sweet and eating,” said Dr. Jude.

Hope for All Pets says they’ve never seen a case like this before, and those treating Bunny share that sentiment.

“I’ve seen, you know, a lot of neglect cases here and there, but just pure trauma or torture against a dog or a cat is not common, thank goodness. We see random rescues come in with in injuries and we wonder what happened, but a lot of times we don’t know. Apparently, they know what happened to her, which is just terrible,” said Dr. Jude.

Staff at the veterinary hospital says Bunny’s surgery and recovery are expected to cost around $3,500, and they’re asking for help from the community.

You can find more information on how to donate here.