Tied-Up Cat, Doused With Gasoline Nearly Crushed In Garbage Truck

READING, Pa. (CBS) -- A $5,000 reward is now being offered after a cat was found tied up and doused with gasoline in a trash bag after being nearly crushed inside a garbage truck in Reading.

She may be small and weak but her voice was mighty, crying out to two sanitation workers who had started the process of crushing trash collected in their truck.

"I'm not sure if she initially actually went through the garbage truck, but she was tied up in a trash bag doused in gasoline," said Dr. Kimya Davani, with the Berks County Humane Hospital.

Those heroic workers with Harold Adam Refuse Removal in Reading rushed the 1-year-old cat to the Humane Society of Berks County where Davani says it is the most brutal case of abuse she has ever seen.

"She was in shock, very dehydrated, underweight and her temperature was extremely low--life threatening," says Davani.

How the cat managed to survive breathing nothing but gasoline fumes inside of the bag for at least six hours remains unclear.

You can still smell some of the diesel fuel on her fur but given her incredible story of survival this little lady has been named "Miracle Maisy".

According to the humane society, Maisy was dumped on the 500 block of North Front Street early Tuesday morning

"You can start to see her normal personality coming out she's very sweet she loved her head to be rubbed she likes chin rubs," says Davani.

Maisy now has the chance to find a family who will appreciate those loving features more than her last, all thanks to those two workers who heard her cries for help.

"It's very fortunate that we have members of our community who care so much about these loving Creatures," Davani said.

The Humane Society of Berks County is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone with information that leads to a criminal conviction.

People are asked to call Reading Police Department at 610-655-6116 if they have information to share about what happened to the cat.