$6,000 Reward Offered After Kitten Thrown Out Of Car Window

TAMPA, FL -- A $6,000 award is being offered for information leading to the arrest of a person who threw a kitten out of the window of a moving car.

Shortly before 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 28, someone reportedly threw a 4 1/2-week-old kitten out of a car near the intersection of West Columbus Drive and North Howard Avenue and sped away. Witnesses to the act managed to grab the kitten off the busy road before he was struck by a car.

A Humane Society of Tampa Bay staff member who happened to be on the scene rushed him to the shelter where he was treated for a bloody nose and abrasions on his paws. The kitten, now named Columbo, is currently in the care of a foster family and will soon be put up for adoption.

Authorities have yet to identify the person who threw the kitten out of the window so the Humane Society put up a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the animal abuser. PETA has added $5,000 to the reward.

The group plans to post reward fliers throughout the area.

"There is no excuse for this. It's a baby," said Humane Society CEO Sherry Silk. "Not only is it morally wrong, it is against the law. If you have kittens and you don't want them, you can bring them to us or the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center."

"It takes a chilling lack of empathy to toss an animal out of a car window and keep on driving," says PETA Vice President Colleen O'Brien. "The other kittens in the litter this one came from are in danger every minute they spend in the custody of this cruel person, which is why PETA urges anyone with information about this case to come forward now before it's too late."

Anyone with information about this case should contact the Humane Society of Tampa Bay at 813-876-7138.