Just when we think we've seen every form of brutality man can unleash on our fellow creatures, we are faced with another story of unimaginable cruelty. Such is the case of the "pet" bobcat who recently arrived at Southwest Wildlife, another of the growing number of victims of the exotic pet trade.

This 2-to 3-year-old bobcat mercifully escaped from her tortured existence weighing only 12 pounds-less than many house cats. She had a thick collar around her neck with about five feet of tow chain attached. The man who found her wandering around his home was able to capture her by coaxing her to eat bologna from his hand.

She was immediately taken to the vet, where she had to be sedated to remove the heavy collar that had dug painfully into her neck. It was then, while she was under sedation, that the full horror of her life was observed. She had been spayed and all four feet de-clawed. She was loaded with fleas and ticks, she was severely scarred from being beaten or dragged over rough surfaces by the tow chain, and she was full of buckshot!! Someone had used this little bobcat for target practice!

That she was even alive was a miracle in itself. That she had managed to escape her barbaric captors in the condition she was in had to have taken every bit of strength and determination she had in her frail and wounded body. One thing is for certain: her days of torture are over. She will begin to heal at Southwest Wildlife, where she is safe and in the company of other bobcats who cannot be released back into the wild.