WATCH ABOVE: Concerned citizens in St. Jerome were demonstrating outside police headquarters in that city. They’re concerned about stray cats being found scalded with hot oil. They say police aren’t doing enough to catch the culprit. Global’s Rachel Lau has more.
SAINT-JEROME – Johanne Bernier has been taking care of little Ti-loup for the past few weeks.
He is just one of at least three cats that have been attacked – scalded by hot oil – recently.
“He’s doing well, as you can see,” she said.
“It’s only in his mouth that it’s sensitive, but for the rest he’s doing well.”
Ti-loup was found lying in the grass with serious burns in the Saint-Jerome area.
“I brought him to the vet, who confirmed that he really was burnt with hot oil,” said Bernier.
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Now, activists say enough is enough.
They want to change Quebec law to better protect all animals.
“We’ve been trying for years to get what is known as living property rights,” said Georges Dupras, the director of Animal Alliance of Canada.
“That would criminalize the issue of animal abuse, make it much easier for us in court and give the judges wide latitude.”
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Demonstrators are gathering outside the Saint-Jerome police station to do just that.
“This is so bad,” said Marie-Jose Paquette, an animal rights activist.
“People don’t know what they’re doing. It’s cruelty against animals. Could you please stop doing that?”
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They are asking that better measures be taken to find the attacker.
“The public out in Saint-Jerome are outraged,” said Dupras.
“They’re not happy about this at all. They’re not happy about having somebody out there who is that unstable.”
According to activists, the official police dossier hasn’t been assigned a case number.
“They don’t have that because the witness is somewhat reluctant right now,” said Dupras.
“Without a dossier as such the police could be accused of harassment, so it’s difficult.”
The witness hasn’t made an official complaint because she’s scared, but Bernier, along with a few dozen concerned citizens, says she’s not afraid to step up to the plate.
“They need a complaint, they’ll have a complaint today,” said Bernier.
“We really want that they open the file and they find who did it before we find another victim of that.”
In the meantime, Bernier has already found a family to adopt Ti-loup.
“He’s very, very kind with us and he’s not afraid even after what happened with the human,” she said.
The family will be able to take him home once his recovery is complete.
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