A Beach Haven resident says she has been “overwhelmed” after the community rallied to help pay for treatment for her 10-month-old kitten who was maimed over the weekend.
Danella Paterson told 1News she first knew something was wrong with her “sweet” kitten Rocky when he came home on Saturday “growling in intense pain”.
“His whole body was like, paralysed. I touched him and he growled more, the pain was intense,” she said.
“I could see his whole backside was completely, almost flattened.”
Paterson said he was “howling, growling and groaning in agony” as she rushed him to the vet where X-rays revealed he had sustained injuries consistent with being kicked.
“[The vet] said ‘his tail’s been completely ripped off’,” she said.
“He had liver damage, bladder damage, bruising. His whole stomach was purple, dark purple. So he’s either been just kicked, or both kicked and had his tail ripped so badly it caused [the] internal bleeding.”
Paterson was told the tail would need to be amputated, and euthanasia was presented as an option due to the high costs for all treatments.
She posted about the incident to a community Facebook page that night, along with an image of a threatening note she had seen written on her property’s fence on September 16.
Paterson said at the time she hoped the threat to her cats’ lives written in red ink wasn’t real, and quickly painted over it so that her four children wouldn’t see.
Following the post, Paterson said she had been “just amazed” by the outpouring of community support, which has raised enough money through a Givealittle page to pay for all of Rocky’s veterinary treatment.
“Just the trauma and pain the animal has to go through is the worst. That’s what has traumatised me, the fact that my cat has suffered so much. Money is money, but pain and cruelty is another thing,” she said.
She said the family were grateful to the community for its response. “There’s bad guys out there, but there’s more good people than bad.”
She said she hoped the person responsible would be found, as she felt unsafe living in the same community “as someone capable of that”.
“Because I’ve got little kids too, you know? I feel unsafe now, because if you can hurt an animal, you might hurt a kid.”
Investigations underway
A police spokesperson confirmed an investigation had been initiated after a pet cat was “found maimed in Beach Haven on Saturday” and the incident reported to police the same day.
“We have received no other reports of similar incidents in the area,” the spokesperson said.
An SPCA spokesperson also confirmed it had received a complaint about this incident.
“As an investigation is underway, no further comment can be made at this time,” they said.