Humane officials filed animal cruelty charges this morning against a Sewickley Township woman for allegedly performing illegal surgery on at least two cats.
Humane officer Kathy Hecker, of Animal Friends in Pittsburgh, filed charges against Loria Baur of Kangaroo Hill, Lowber. The charges follow an investigation into injuries suffered by the cats when Baur, who is not a licensed veterinarian, allegedly attempted to declaw the animals.
Veterinarian Dr. John O'Laughlin, who is treating one of the cats, named Katherine, or Kat, at his Grace Veterinary Clinic in Mt. Pleasant, said the botched surgery left the cat's paws deformed and infected.
Displaying X-rays and photographs yesterday, O'Laughlin pointed out how an infection had set in because jagged bone fragments were left behind from the surgery.
O'Laughlin said Katherine's owner meant no harm to her pet when she went to the woman for the surgery. She had been referred to the alleged illicit surgeon by an acquaintance who had the same surgery performed on her pet.
"She is very upset. She was duped," O'Laughlin said. "She thought she was taking it to a licensed veterinarian."
Although the first woman's cat appeared to have come through its surgery well, Hecker said it was determined during her investigation that it also was disfigured.
"Our exam revealed it's pretty mutilated inside," Hecker said. "There are bone chips and fragments floating around everywhere inside its paws."
O'Laughlin and Hecker said the accused had worked in at least one local veterinary hospital but was not licensed to perform the procedures she allegedly did on the two cats.
Hecker, who said she has never seen a case like this before, credits O'Laughlin for bringing the situation to her attention.
"He's done a wonderful job of recognizing the abuse and doing some of the forensics for a cat that is in a lot of pain," Hecker said.
It will be at least six months before Katherine recovers from the botched surgery, and she likely will never walk normally again, O'Laughlin said.
