African Serval, Domestic Cat Crossbreed Shot Dead In Detroit

A Savannah cat, a crossbreed between an African serval cat and a domestic cat, made headlines this month after residents of a northeast Detroit neighborhood spotted the huge feline roaming around the streets for several days. Rumors that the exotic-looking animal was dangerous also circulated.

One-year-old Savannah cat (Wikipedia)

Latest reports say the cat, named Chum, has been shot and killed by one of the residents. The body of the 25-pound, 3-year-old Savannah cat was found in a garbage can on Monday evening.

The cat's owners, who raised Chum since 4 months old, are heartbroken about the incident. They claim that the cat escaped from their house through screened-in window and that they have been looking for her since. Chum did not have a microchip.

"It was simply ignorance. A Savannah cat is a cross between an African Serval and a domestic cat, and that is it. They’re larger cats, they’re very beautiful, they have a lot of stripes and spots, which I think was more intimidating to people than even the size of the cat, because the cat wasn’t overly huge, about 25 pounds and maybe when it was sitting was probably two feet tall. But they’re very sweet animals, they’re kind of like the dog of the cat world," Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek, with Paws for the Cause Feral Cat Rescue, told WWJ Newsradio 950.

She added, “I think people can’t just go around shooting things they don’t understand. I think we need to be a little bit more respectful of the animals and human beings around us. I’d love to see someone look into it and investigate it. But I’m not holding out a lot of hope. This whole thing from the beginning has just been a mess.”