Girl hears loud meows, saves her cat from mom trying to burn it on grill, OK cops say

An Oklahoma teen was searching for her cat when police said she made a grim discovery in the backyard of her home, leading to her mother’s arrest.

On June 26, officers responded to a home in Moore — a roughly 10-mile drive south from downtown Oklahoma City — after a 16-year-old girl called 911, saying her mom tried to burn her cat on a grill, the Moore Police Department said July 11 in a news release.

The girl said she could hear her cat meowing loudly outside the home, according to police. She followed the cries and found her cat, trapped in a pet carrier, wrapped in a garbage bag, on top of a lit grill, police said.

She moved quickly and rescued the tortoiseshell colored cat from the flames, according to police.

If she had come outside a moment or two later, her pet might not have survived.

The cat had “visible burn marks” on its paws, and several whiskers were singed by the heat, police said, adding that the plastic bag had melted onto the pet carrier in places.

“Thankfully, the animal was walking around, appearing to have avoided serious injury, and is expected to make a full recovery,” a department spokesperson said.

Officers found the girl’s mother “lying down on a front porch wrapped in a porch rug.”

Body camera video shared by the department shows the woman standing in the front yard of a home, speaking with two officers.

“It had to be done,” she tells them.

When asked what she meant by that, she says, “I had to cook.”

The woman was arrested on a charge of animal cruelty, according to police. The cat is still with the family.

This story was originally published July 11, 2024 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Girl hears loud meows, saves her cat from mom trying to burn it on grill, OK cops say."