Shock claims 'Zombie cat' was buried alive
In a shock twist to an already unbelievable story, it's alleged the world-famous feline was buried alive.
Owner Ellis Hutson last week said he found his beloved feline lying in a pool of blood after being struck by a car, and he was sure it was the end.
But almost a week later - like a scene out of Stephen King's Pet Sematary - Hutson spotted his black and white feline in a neighbour's garden.
Dubbed 'zombie cat', Bart's owner and Florida vets were stunned as to how he managed to crawl out of his grave after five days.
But now the executive director of The Humane Society of Tampa Bay has expressed her doubts, saying Bart may have been buried intentionally.
“I think they knew he was breathing,” Sherry Silk, told The Huffington Post.
She is apparently basing the claim on a YouTube video where a woman’s voice is heard saying, "I found him … he was moving and stuff."
"He might not have been dead."
Bart's owner Ellis Hutson and Candice McLendon, the woman heard in the YouTube clip, have denied the allegations.
"I believe I may have said some stuff just in disbelief, but when they went around to bury him, he was very stiff," McLendon told local media.
At the time Hutson said he was too distraught to bury Bart after the accident, so he asked a friend.
"We were so close, I couldn’t stand to bury him," Hutson told ABC News.
"I put him on the shoulder of the road and went and got David. He dug a hole and covered up the cat with dirt. I witnessed him bury the cat."
Bart was found suffering serious injuries, head trauma, a broken jaw and dehydration.
He has undergone surgery to remove his left eye, but is expected to make a full recovery.
"He's purring, even with all these injuries," The Humane Society's Sherry Silk said last week.
"I can't even imagine how awful he must have felt. He's just a really wonderful, patient, loving cat."
Hutson's neighbour Dusty Albritton said their family cat died of similar injuries on the same day.
“Now my kids believe their cat will also rise from the dead," Albritton told ABC News. "But I told them I don't think so."
