Actor joins hunt for whoever glued cat to Minn. road
Retired Hollywood actor Ken Wahl on Tuesday said has offered to donate the Golden Globe award he won in 1990 to a growing reward for information to find and convict whoever glued a cat to state Highway 60 in southwestern Minnesota.
Wahl said he offered the award he won for the TV show "Wiseguys" because he was appalled by the animal abuse and worried that whoever did it could be dangerous.
"A lot of people think it's just a cat, it's no big deal, but the thing is, remember, this is how Jeffrey Dahmer started," he said in a telephone interview from his Southern California home, referring to the infamous Milwaukee serial killer who had tortured animals as a child.
Travelers found the 7-month-old orange tabby, which had been glued to the road by its feet and nose, on Dec. 18 and took it to the Second Chance Rescue Center across the South Dakota border in Sioux Falls. The cat died five days later despite the efforts of veterinarians to save it.
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Rescue Center Director Rosey Quinn said donations from across the country had pushed the reward fund to about $12,000. The reward money is for information leading to a conviction in the case.
Wahl said he donated money to the fund but also wanted to do something that would bring more attention to the case.
"It's certainly easy enough to write a check, but to give something of yourself that's a symbol of your accomplishment, is something I thought would catch people's attention more," he said.
Quinn said the rescue center had received a tip Tuesday and planned to contact law enforcement officers in Minnesota's Blue Earth County, where the cat was found around 30 miles west of Mankato.
"Wiseguy" ran on CBS from 1987 to 1990. Wahl played a federal agent who infiltrates the mob. He won the Golden Globe in 1990.
Quinn said Wahl's offer to donate it is "huge."
"Someone of his reputation that's willing to step up to the plate and help us figure out what happened to this kitty, I think it's wonderful, it's amazing," she said.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)