An extremely rare and incredibly illegal wild cat was seen roaming the streets of Lincoln, Massachusetts recently and after days of trying to apprehend it, the MSPCA-Angell Community Outreach team finally brought him in.

Bruno is an absolutely beautiful sub-Saharan African wild cat, but he definitely shouldn't be roaming the streets of a New England neighborhood. According to Massachusetts law, servals like Bruno can only be housed at zoos in the Bay State and even then, only with the proper permits.

Clearly someone wasn't following that law, or checking out our animals you can't have as pets list. That someone remains unknown, because Bruno was not tagged or microchipped and the MSPCA does not expect to find whoever was keeping this serval in their home.

How the wild cat got free to roam the streets of Lincoln remains unknown as well, but it is very lucky residents saw him when they did. The MSPCA reports that the serval had to be rushed to their Jamaica Plains headquarters for evaluation and found two bone breaks in his right hind leg.

Photo courtesy MSPCA-Angell
Photo courtesy MSPCA-Angell
loading...

Sadly, the breaks appear to be months old and the end result could be this beautiful animal losing his leg. Care for Bruno is going to add up, but you can help by making a donation to support him. He was also found very hungry and extremely thin, so he may have been out in the wild for a while.

The MSPCA said Bruno was likely kept as a pet to be bred with domestic cats for the intent of making savannahs, another illegal pet that is half-serval, half-house cat.

Bruno is now getting the care he greatly needs at the organization's Jamaica Plains headquarters as the MSPCA works with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to find Bruno a permanent home.

I hope they turn to Buttonwood Park Zoo for that forever home, because honestly it just might be the perfect place. Buttonwood suffered the sad loss of both of its bobcats in recent months and presumably have a suitable home for a serval at the ready. Personally, I'd love to see Bruno come to New Bedford when he is healthy enough.

If Bruno Makes You Want to Snuggle a Cat, Then Check Out This Cat Cafe in Tiverton

A cat café is coming soon to Tiverton, and Amanda Souza-Viera is exciting to bring cat lovers and coffee lovers under one roof.

More From WFHN-FM/FUN 107