A Victoria-area cat is on the mend, but its owner’s roommate could face charges after he allegedly left the animal in a cat carrier submerged in water.
Victoria police said they were called to a home in Esquimalt on Tuesday evening after the cat’s owner came home to find blood in her apartment and no sign of the animal.
Her roommate allegedly told her the cat had bit him, and when she asked where it was he allegedly assaulted her and then fled.
Police caught up with the man not long afterward, but he refused to say where the cat was.
A police search turned the animal up in a cat carrier submerged in an industrial waste container full of water.
The cat, who police said was in “clear medical distress,” was taken to a vet – where officers paid out of pocket for its initial diagnosis.
Since then, police said good Samaritans have stepped up with an “outpouring of support” to cover the costs of the cat’s treatment.
The suspect is facing one charge of assault and one charge of animal neglect/cruelty.