It’s distressing, to say the least, that some cretin would do this to someone’s pet.
from the NZ Herald
After having been missing for several days, black-and-white cat Sammy slumped through the front door of his home in Kāpiti’s Waikanae Beach.
The cat had been in survival mode after being shot twice with a .22-calibre air rifle but had made every agonising effort to get home.
Sammy, 6, who was extremely lucky to be alive, would undergo veterinary treatment to try to save his front leg.
He’s undergoing 12 weeks of crate rest in the hope the leg repairs itself and won’t need amputation.
Owner Lanita Mulholland said the first indication something wasn’t right was during the night of the recent earthquake.
Her two other cats Kelly and Simba were quick to get inside but super-friendly Sammy didn’t, which was out of character.
By the middle of the week, with no sign of Sammy, Mulholland had become “very worried”.
But during a meal at a local restaurant, she got a phone call from her eldest son Jamie, who said Sammy had come through the cat door, was making a lot of noise, and his foot was in bad shape.
Mulholland said Sammy’s front left leg was “just hanging”.
Sammy was taken to Raumati Vet Centre, where he was given some pain relief before X-rays were taken.
Mulholland got a call from the centre to tell her X-rays had revealed Sammy had been shot twice.
Beside the Waikawa River in nearby Horowhenua, I saw a woman trying to set a dog on some pied stilts. I love pied stilts, but I’m afraid that I put my own physical safety first and did not protest. Fortunately the dog wasn’t interested.