Road to recovery … Sooky is recovering after having her tail cut off. 34568 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKIBy Cimara Pearce
SUNSHINE detectives are investigating another alleged act of cruelty in the West, this time on a Deer Park family’s three-year-old kitten.
The Smith family came home last week to find their cat, Sooky, who had been missing for two weeks, on their doorstep in agony after having her tail cut off.
Initial ecstasy at the discovery of the missing cat turned to tears as the family realised she had been maimed.
The incident follows the discovery of eight-week old puppy Buckley who was found mutilated in a St Albans school yard last month. Sooky’s owners Kylie and Jason Smith said the entire family had been gutted.
“My daughter, Courtney, has hand fed her since she was a baby … the mum (Sooky’s) took off so we had to go and buy bottles and formula and she bottle fed her. She was devastated when she went missing,” Mrs Smith said.
“Courtney was really happy to see her until she saw her tail. I’ve seen my daughter angry but I’ve never seen her like this before.
“She just cried and cried and cried.”
At first the Smiths thought Sooky’s tail might have been bitten off by an animal but on closer inspection and consultation with veterinarians, they believe it was cut off with a sharp object.
“We spoke to a female vet and she said it was a very clean cut and she assumed it had been done by someone,” Mrs Smith said.
“There were other dogs in the waiting room (at the vet) and she just sat there. If it had of been a dog attack it would have been more jagged and also with other animals around (in the waiting room) … she would have gone into quite a panic.”
While the family hopes antibiotics and painkillers will help heal the open wound, Sooky is not out of danger yet and could require surgery to help the remnants of her tail heal.
The Smiths have door knocked in their street and warned others to keep their animals inside fearing the incident could occur again.
Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
