PETA's headquarters in Hampton Roads, Virginia, is well known to local residents, many of whom volunteer to help animals in their spare time. Thousands in the area have taken advantage of our low-cost animal clinics and the Bea Arthur Dog Park, which is open to the community.

But every once in a while, someone visits PETA headquarters with ill intentions—like the guy who dumped this sweet, starving, nearly-naked bag of bones in our parking lot late one August night and then tried to drive away.

Not realizing that people were watching, the driver shoved an ailing cat, who has since been named Nadia, out of his car, and ignored the terrified and confused animal as she tried to get back into the car, running after it as the man drove away. Fortunately, he was spotted by two PETA Foundation staffers who immediately approached him and saw right through his lame excuses for dumping Nadia on the street.

It took us more than 10 days, during which time the temperature soared to more than 100 degrees, to catch the poor, petrified cat. When we finally did, we rushed her to a veterinarian, who determined that Nadia was 3 pounds (!) underweight—she weighed just 5 pounds—and that she was missing hair on more than half her body, likely because of a severe allergic reaction to fleas. Nadia has been recuperating in foster care ever since and is waiting for her new forever home.

As for the heinous man who attempted to abandon her, he had his moment in court on Friday. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of abandonment and received a suspended sentence of a $1,000 fine and five days in jail. He was also sentenced to two years of probation, during which time he cannot own or keep any animals, and he had to pay restitution to PETA. Most importantly, he learned that abandoning an animal is never an option, no matter the circumstances.

Written by Karin Bennett

The dust has cleared a bit from the tornado that hit our area this week, but we’re still working in the community to help people and animals who were affected by the disaster. I found out yesterday that my colleague Cindy Clark, who works in the PETA Foundation’s Development Department, was one of those people—her home was right in the path of the storm. Her story, in addition to being pretty exciting, is also a great reminder about how to keep your head in a disaster like this and do everything you can to ensure that your animals, who rely on you completely, don’t become victims. Here’s how it all went down, according to Cindy:

I like the happy ending. Big thanks are due to the folks at Nansemond Parkway Elementary School and the shelter at Kings Fork High School for being awesome throughout. There’s more info on what you can do to make sure your animals are safe in the event of an emergency here.