SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - A DeSoto County woman has been arrested after neglecting her injured cat for weeks and then asking an animal hospital for instructions on how to amputate the cat's leg herself.
After an investigation was completed, Crystal Conley has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty, the DeSoto County Sheriff's Office said Sept. 3.
In March, Dr. Pam Wright, of the Fur-Ever Friend Animal Hospital in Arcadia, said was performing surgery when the hospital received a disturbing call -- a woman was asking for instructions on performing an amputation, claiming she would be using sharp scissors.
"I was like, 'Excuse me?' Wright told ABC7.
"I was blown away by the whole conversation, but then also blown away that they (Conley) gave us their information," she said.
The hospital immediately called the sheriff's office. Deputies arrived at Conley's home to find a black cat named Daisy, in urgent need of medical care.
According to the sheriff's office, Daisy's right leg reduced to pure, exposed bone -- no skin or fur.
Deputies say Conley told them she could not afford treatment. The sheriff's office also says Conley had refused to surrender the cat for proper treatment when advised to do so by a veterinarian.
Deputies took custody of the cat and brought it to Wright's hospital where staff estimated the injury was around three weeks old, and Daisy was dangerously anemic, hypovolemic and battling a severe infection.
"She was pretty bad off," Wright recalled. "At that point she wouldn't have been stable enough to survive the surgery."
The staff was able to stabilize the cat, that has been renamed Chicken Little. After several weeks, she was able to undergo a proper leg amputation.
Chicken Little is now living the rest of her days under the care of Stephanie Boydston, the founder and director of Love Live Animal Rescue.
"Chicken Little is doing great," Boydston told ABC7. "She's so adorable. She's made a whole lot of friends. She's made a miraculous recovery ... we're just so thankful for Dr. Pam and the entire team at Fur-Ever friends animal hospital for saving Chicken Little's life."