Bobcat Struck By Laguna Cop Released Back Into Wild

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — If you love something, set it free. That was the case for a local vet and the police officer who brought an injured bobcat into his care.

The young bobcat suffered injuries in February when Laguna Beach Police Officer Thomas McGuire struck the wild cat with his vehicle while responding to a call, a department spokesperson said.

Mcguire initially thought the cat was someone's pet, Patch was told. If so, it was the biggest house cat he'd ever seen, he said.

He took the creature to Dr. Scott Weldy, of the Serrano Animal and Bird Hospital in Lake Forest.

Weldy x-rayed the cat and discovered head trauma as well as a previous bullet injury.

It was a warm spring day when Orange County veterinarian Dr. Weldy returned this now healed bobcat back into the wilderness, two months after the accident.

When they opened the crate, the bobcat ran off into the back country of the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, one of our finest Orange County Parks.

"It was almost anti-climactic," Weldy, told reporters.

The best part was he was returned to an area close to where he was initially discovered.

During his confinement, the bobcat was fed chicken parts and the like. The area where he will call home is rich in bobcat food--rabbits, squirrels and small rodents.

McGuire told reporters after the cat ran off into the chaparral, "it's nice to see him back where he belongs."