Bobcat or Kitten? Contractor Attacked by Cat Can't Tell the Difference
A contractor who was doing a safety inspection inside a woman’s Florida condo claims he was attacked by a bobcat, but the pet’s owner says it’s just a legal house cat.
Meet Calli—the fluffy, 10-pound animal that’s at the center of contractor Marcos Hernandez’s lawsuit against condo owner Christine Lee. Hernandez claims he was home alone doing routine work inside Lee’s home in May 2016, when her feline left him with serious, permanent injuries, Associated Press reports.
“All I know is he was in here alone and he must have startled her,” Lee, who isn’t denying he got scratched, told Tampa Bay Times.
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But, other than that, Lee—who has yet to hire a lawyer— says the whole situation is “blown out of proportion” and “ridiculous.”
In the photograph below, taken by Tampa Bay Times, Lee is seen holding Calli, who doesn’t appear to be a bobcat, which are typically a bit larger with a spotted pattern covering their bodies.
“A bobcat does look much different than this. They’re much bigger than this 10-pound little thing,” Lee told the AP. “It’s a litigious society and here we are.”
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She also owns another feline, named Max; however, he too isn’t a bobcat and looks nothing like one. Skypoint Condominium Association, Inc.—who is also named in the lawsuit—investigated the matter and stands by Lee’s claims that she owns a regular housecat.
“Skypoint has investigated the allegations made by Mr. Hernandez and has determined that the alleged 'bobcat' Mr. Hernandez claims attacked him is in fact a standard house cat named Calli,” the condo association wrote in a statement, WTSP, a CBS-affiliate in Tampa reports.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation also looked into the matter and said they too only came across a housecat in the unit, according to WTSP.
“They were like, ‘Really’?” Lee said. “I said ‘You’re welcome to investigate the premises and see that I don’t have a bobcat.’”