Kitten’s face, body burnt after being set on fire

‘‘The smell was horrific,’’ says the owner of a kitten burnt in Gore.

The owner, who does not want to be identified, said she came home from work on Tuesday and found her 4-month-old kitten Haezel lying on the garage floor.

‘‘My partner and I put her in water straight away to cool her down before we took her to the vet. The smell was horrific,’’ the woman said.

The vet gave her pain relief and put burns ointment on the kitten’s ears. The kitten is now on a stress relief medication and antibiotics to prevent infection.

‘‘I don’t know why anyone would do this. We only shifted to this area in July and everyone in the neighbourhood is so friendly.

‘‘The odd thing is she’s still be purring, but the vet said that might be a ‘timid purr’.’’

Haezel suffered burns to her face and body, but is now at home with family and is expected to make a full recovery.

Animal welfare organisation Paw Justice posted on social media that it was offering a $2500 reward for information leading to the identity of whoever injured Haezel.

Southland SPCA operations manager Richard Hay said inspectors would interview Haezel’s owner today.

‘‘We want to identify the cause and we’ll be making further investigations once we have a full picture of what has occurred.

‘‘We are absolutely concerned about anybody that causes harm to an animal and the type of person they are, how old they are and those sorts of things.’’

Hay said instances of animal cruelty were rare in Gore.

Gore Police are investigating the incident that happened between 7am and 1pm.

A police spokesperson said police would like to hear from anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area.