March 25, 2022

Please Pray For Buddy the Cat, Who Is Recovering From a Vicious Dog Attack

Buddy is “hanging in there” after two men encouraged their dogs to attack him.

Pennsylvania SPCA

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Earlier this week, two twisted individuals in Philadelphia sicced their dogs on a black cat named Buddy. They encouraged the dogs, repeatedly shouting, “Good boy!” as the cat yowled. The incident was captured on surveillance footage which I won’t share here because I don’t recommend watching it. But, hey, you know how to use Google.

I am pleased to announce that Buddy is “hanging in there,” in the words of the Pennsylvania SPCA, which has been providing the little guy with round-the-clock care. I might be biased, since I’m the proud owner of a little black cat who bears a strong resemblance to Buddy, but tell me this photo of the kitty hooked up to all sorts of machines doesn’t bring a tear to your eye:

Today, the PSPCA shared a video of a heavily sedated Buddy contentedly kneading a blanket—and melting my heart.

Buddy was a stray, HuffPost reports, but received food and water from a local family. PSPCA is accepting donations for Buddy’s medical care. Meanwhile, local authorities are on the lookout for the two men responsible for the attack. If found, they could face felony animal cruelty charges.

Buddy is not out of the woods yet, but PSPCA is “cautiously optimistic” he’ll pull through. Please send this beautiful boy some good vibes.

5:15 p.m. ET: Two juvenile suspects have surrendered to authorities, the PSCPCA said in a statement. They have been taken into custody pending a custodial determination hearing.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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