Police are examining the shooting of a cat at North Manly.
Shortly prior to 6.00pm Friday night (26 May), a man brought a roaming cat to Allambie Vet at Allambie Heights. The man said he discovered the cat in his yard at Sterland Avenue, North Manly. He was looking for support for the male feline, which had a head injury and was showing uncommon behaviour.
Allambie Vet Dr Brian Mills said veterinary staff took the animal in for evaluation, and were shocked to discover it had actually been shot in the head (primary image and listed below).
“We noticed that it was clearly showing neurological problems. It was still walking, but it was walking in circles, and it wasn’t as aware of its surroundings. The decision was to take an X-ray straightaway.
“With strays, our philosophy is they get everything thrown at them. If the client comes back and says they wouldn’t ever spend that money, that’s fine, but we will do everything that needs to be done.
“Within minutes of coming in, he was taken through for X-rays, and that showed the bullet in the brain and fragments of bone that had followed the bullet through.
“The prognosis for that cat was pretty much zero, it was going to have really serious brain injuries and it wasn’t fair to keep him alive. So a decision was made by a number of the vets and senior staff members, that euthanasia was the thing that had to be done,” said Dr Mills.