Jan. 16--An animal rights group has upped the reward for information leading to the killer of a cat found hanging from a tree branch in Waukegan.
After nearly a month with no arrests, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, is offering $5,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction, according to a Friday news release from the organization.
That sum comes on top of a $1,000 reward raised by North Chicago-based Fat Cat Rescue in the days after the cat was found Dec. 18.
"When you see the picture it just takes your breath away. I was shook up," Fat Cat Rescue founder Mary Kaye Larsen Olloway said at the time. "This was too out in the open; someone had to have seen something."
Waukegan police Cmdr. Joe Florip said the department received a call from a passerby who reported a cat hanging from a tree, a rope tied around its neck, near the intersection of Montesano Avenue and New York Street.
Florip said Friday the case remained open and no arrests had been made.
"Someone in the Waukegan area was callous enough to subject this poor cat to the agony of being hanged, and that person is dangerous," PETA Senior Director Colleen O'Brien said in a statement. "PETA is urging anyone with information about this case to come forward immediately, before anyone lese is hurt."
Anyone with information is asked to call Waukegan police at 847-360-9000, according to the statement from PETA.
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