[Update: Happy ending! Amigo has found a new family and is regaining his trust in people.]

It appears someone had a cat and didn't want it. So they kind of did something right by bringing it to L.A. County's animal care center in Baldwin Park. But instead of dropping it off inside the office, they left it in a box on the center's lower level parking garage. And then there's this disturbing detail, which a county press release describes as "one of the strangest -- and perhaps one of the cruelest incidents": The cat, wrapped with red duct tape around his snout and feet, was grasping for air when an animal control officer found and opened the box.

Talk about being saved in the nick of time.

"I can't imagine why someone would do this to this cat," said Department of Animal Care and Control Director, Marcia Mayeda. "Animal cruelty is heart breaking, intolerable, and usually a precursor to human violence."

Amigo, his newly given name (see why in the picture below), is now recovering and eventually will be up for adoption. Updates on his status will be given on the county's animal Facebook and Twitter accounts.