A sphinx cat is looking for a new home after it was tattooed by gang members at a Mexican prison. The unnamed hairless feline is a year old and currently resides in Juarez, a town bordering Texas in Mexico’s northernmost state of Chihuahua. Police had discovered the cat in a jail where it had suffered abuse at the hands of prisoners who tattooed its skin.
Rescue workers who took the cat into their care found it with two tattoos on both sides of its body.
One tattoo looks like a tattered flag emblazoned with two cutlasses and what appears to be a Mexican sombrero.
Another resembles a plaque with the words “Hecho en Mexico” and an eagle, the country’s national symbol.
The phrase roughly translates to “Made in Mexico”, and the tattoo replicates a symbol the national government attaches to products manufactured domestically.
Mexican authorities are now searching for the right family to take the cat into their care.
Despite being an uncommon pedigree breed that can sell for up to $6,000 (£4,976), the sphinx cat is not for sale.
Rescuers hope a family can adopt the feline, which is happy and healthy following its ordeal.
Cesar Rene Diaz, the ecology director for the city of Juarez, told Reuters the cat is in good health.
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He said: “The cat is very sociable and is in great shape, with no infections.”
Once they find an appropriate family, authorities will decide whether they can take the cat on.
A committee will meet to make the final decision later this month.
They then plan to send the cat off with its owners in a ceremony on March 1.
