Baby Yoda cat enchanted the Internet. Now an NC rescue group says she was given away
For a brief moment, a tiny feline from North Carolina bearing a striking resemblance to the beloved Star Wars character Baby Yoda enthralled the Internet.
Potential rescuers submitted applications in droves. A fundraiser to help pay for veterinary bills raked in donations.
Now Joy — aka Baby Yoda cat — is gone from the public eye.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce that Joy is no longer in our care,” the Humane Society of Rowan County said in Facebook post. “Joy was released without our knowledge or consent to a person claiming ownership.”
The saga is a harried one.
According to the HSRC, someone in Kannapolis — about 20 miles northeast of Charlotte — found the badly injured Baby Yoda cat on Dec. 14 and called the humane society for help.
She was taken to a nearby animal hospital with a “wound around her neck and an upper respiratory infection.” Rescuers said she would not be available to adopt for some time.
Then a woman came forward claiming to be Joy’s owner. According to an update posted to Facebook on Friday, the rescue group wasn’t convinced.
“The HSRC president spoke by phone with the very distraught lady and explained that her photos presented a very close match to Joy but that the prominent feature, the ears, were not a match,” the humane society said.
She reportedly told them “the cat’s ears were on the top of its head when she last saw the cat.”
Meanwhile, the HSRC said Joy was supposed to be taken from the hospital for a second opinion on her injuries on New Year’s Eve.
But veterinary staff wouldn’t release her and instructed the HSRC to call animal control.
According to the rescue group, a sergeant with animal control said the veterinarian had “declared Joy to be the property of the lady who had been trying to claim her.”
“He said the veterinarian was ‘tired of the publicity’ and wanted Joy out of his hospital,” the HSRC said. “The sergeant said he returned Joy to the lady.”
Baby Yoda cat is still receiving treatment, but the woman who assumed her care wants help in paying the bills.
According to the humane society, the medical bills it incurred from Dec. 14 to Dec. 31 total $932. Its now-closed fundraising campaign raised $1,254.
The woman has asked what’s leftover be put toward the cat’s surgery and follow-up treatment, for which she is now responsible, the HSRC said.
It’s agreed, barring the donors permit it.
“Thank you again to everyone who has expressed concern for Joy in any way,” the HSRC said. “She is first and foremost a precious life deserving of love, care and protection.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2020 at 2:02 PM with the headline "Baby Yoda cat enchanted the Internet. Now an NC rescue group says she was given away."
