Teens find cat with tail cut off in Sydney drain
A group of teenagers have become unlikely heroes in the rescue of an adult male cat, which they found down a drain with its tail completely missing.
The unfortunate feline was found in a terrible way in Waterfall, Sutherland Shire, on Saturday, with one of the teens taking it home where he called to tell his mother the news.
His mother Seona Mercer, who had left her 17-year-old at home for the weekend, appealed for help from the community via Facebook in a desperate plea to help the animal.
She said her son hadn’t yet gained his provisional licence, so couldn’t take the cat – which he named Stumpy – to the vet without the accompaniment of an adult.
Before long, the teenager received an offer from the mother of his friend to take poor Stumpy to nearby Kirrawee Veterinary Hospital to be assessed.
Vet hospital director Simon Ilkin said, while the cat was extremely emaciated and weak, he had hope it could be saved and potentially be adopted once it regained full health.
He said Stumpy’s tail had been removed some time ago, as the wound had completely healed over.
“We’re hoping that somebody would want to adopt him down the track if we can get him healthy,” Dr Ilkin told Yahoo News Australia.
“I think we owe it to him to give him a bit of a chance, that’s where we are at the moment. We’ve given him some food and he’s absolutely demolished it.”
Dr Ilkin said it was likely Stumpy would stay at the vet for a couple of days before being transferred to one of their adoption partners and hopefully finding someone to take care of him.
The community praised the heroic actions of the teenager who refused to turn a blind eye when he encountered the suffering cat.
“What a brilliant young man. Restores my faith. You’ve raised a beautiful son,” someone wrote.
Several others were quick to offer to help by picking the cat up and taking it to the vet.
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