The near drowning of a cat discovered in a water-filled ditch earlier this month is highlighting the all-too-common problem of cat cruelty, according to a Winnipeg cat rescue group.

Winnipeg Lost Cat Alert said a man was going down a road in West St. Paul August 1, when he spotted what he thought was a fishing tackle box.

The rescue group said when the man approached the ditch, he realized the box, was in fact a cat in cage, submerged up to its neck knee-deep water.

Claudia Allen, the director of Winnipeg Lost Cat Alert, said the man, who wants to remain anonymous, used some fishing gear to reel the cat out of the ditch.

“She was extremely subdued and in shock,” said Allen in a phone call with CTV News Monday, who named the cat Glinda.

Allen said the man spoke with a neighbour who contacted Winnipeg Lost Cat Alert. From there she said the man brought the cat to a Winnipeg animal hospital. Glinda is now in the care of the Winnipeg Humane Society.

“We examined the cat and the cat is in good health. There is no damage to the lungs or the heart,” Javier Schwersensky, CEO with the Winnipeg Humane Society said Monday.

“I sat there looking at the ditches and I thought is there a way this cat got there on her own,” said Allen.

“The only conclusion I can come to is that someone put her there. Even if she put in there when the water wasn’t filled up. It’s the same difference.”

Allen said the cat is very upset right now and believes she was someone’s pet before the incident.

“She was a well fed pudgy cat. She was a cat that was extremely traumatized and now she’s decided to trust people. I don’t blame her.”

“It never ceases to amaze me what lengths people will go to be cruel to animals,” she said.

Allen said cat cruelty is way too common.

“Cats are seen disposable by our society. They are not as valuable as dogs and that needs to change.”

Allen said this is the first near-drowning case from a water-filled ditch she’s encountered, but not the first time she’s heard about it happening.

Allen decided to put the story on social media, and is thankful she was able to find a family to take of Glinda.