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'Zombie Cat' May Go Up for Adoption

Humane Society says it won't give 'Bart' back to owner
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 31, 2015 1:16 PM CST

Bart the "zombie cat" might be getting a new home. The Humane Society of Tampa says it won't return the cat to its owner after learning new information about Bart's "home environment" and how he came to be buried. Among other things, it appears that the Humane Society thinks owner Ellis Hutson had the cat buried without being positive it was dead, or at least didn't do enough to try to help it. The speculation comes from a YouTube video posted by a neighbor, reports the Tampa Bay Times. In the video, shot soon after the cat returned home, Hutson's girlfriend recalls finding Bart after he had been struck by a car. "He might not have been dead," she says. "'Cause when I found him … he was moving and stuff."

She adds that she told Hutson to "go get him and bury him somewhere," and that Hutson replied that "he wasn't gonna do it. He was gonna let Dave do it, and he moved him out of the way." The Humane Society doesn't doubt the rest of the story: Hutson had a friend bury Bart a few blocks away, and the cat must have then scratched its way out and found its way home, five days later. The group says it has gotten donations from around the world for Bart's medical bills, but made a point to say it is not affiliated with a GoFundMe page set up for the cat, reports WTSP. Hutson, meanwhile, says he wants his cat back and swears he thought it was dead. "If Bart would've had any life in him, I would've taken him in my truck to the Humane Society." (More cats stories.)

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