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Family distraught after 'healthy' cat put down

When Tracey Ryan got a call yesterday saying her cat Sydney, who had been missing since 2008, had been rescued, she was over the moon.

Sydney, a birthday present from her husband Stephen, was at the Yagoona RSPCA shelter with a few cuts and bruises and a small case of the flu, but 'otherwise seemed fairly healthy'.

Tracey was told she would be able to return home with Sydney that afternoon.

But by the time Ms Ryan travelled two hours across Sydney in peak hour traffic, she was told Sydney the cat wasn't fine at all, and would have to be put down.

The 'few bumps and bruises' were actually a severe laceration on Sydney's back, and blindness in one eye.

The laceration is likely to have come from someone trying to dig out the cat's microchip, so they could claim her as their own.

Tracey's children, who were excited to be getting their pet cat back, now had to be told Sydney was never coming home.

"It's very upsetting," an emotional Tracey told Yahoo7, "When you've been told it's going to be OK. Then to be told you’re actually coming to put it down".

Tracey's three young daughters were devastated, especially their eldest child, who had fond memories of Sydney.

They were 'extremely upset' when Stephen told them Sydney would not be coming home as promised.

RSPCA NSW CEO Steve Coleman has contacted Tracey personally as to inform her she would not be charged for Sydney's medical bills.

Tracey says although the experience has been traumatic, it won't put her off continuing to support the RSPCA in the future.

A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said an investigation into why Tracey was wrongly informed Sydney was healthy is continuing.