Kitten died ‘after being thrown from vehicle’
A kitten died in excruciating pain after being thrown from a moving vehicle and run over in Taranaki, it has been claimed.
Julie Adlam spoke to the SPCA about seeing the kitten being thrown from a vehicle on Devon Rd, State Highway 3, near the Mangati Rd intersection.
The back wheel of the vehicle appeared to clip the tiny animal, which was riddled with fleas, and her pelvis was shattered as she tried to crawl by her front legs across the main road, in a fearful effort to get to safety, Adlam said.
The kitten was taken to the vet in ‘‘excruciating pain’’ but died before the vet saw her.
‘‘It didn’t know where to put itself,’’ the Bell Block resident said on Thursday.
‘‘It was almost like time stood still. I thought did I really see that? And I know I did.’’
She said she ‘‘felt very helpless’’ but made the decision to look after the kitten rather than follow the vehicle.
‘‘That’s one kitten; if they own all the kittens what’s going to happen top the rest of them?’’
The alleged incident happened just after 3pm on Wednesday, January 2.
It follows a spate of alleged animal cruelties in Taranaki, with videos posted on Facebook of a man punching a possum in the head while others egged him on, and another on Snapchat of a man allegedly getting a kitten high on cannabis.
And in late October and early November, two boxes of kittens were dumped and left for dead on Henwood Rd and then Bell Block Beach two weeks later.
‘‘Unfortunately we attend over 400 incidents,’’ New Plymouth SPCA spokeswoman Jackie Poles Smith said.
‘‘We’re appalled that the number sits at that level.’’
They were ‘‘extremely concerned’’ by the fact that the kitten was allegedly thrown from a moving vehicle.
‘‘The kitten has now died. We would be extremely grateful to have the assistance of any members of the public who saw the incident.’’
In particular, they would like to find the dark green vehicle that Adlam saw heading towards Waitara.
‘‘If they can give us any information about the vehicle, any truck drivers that have dash cams – could they please contact the SPCA.’’
Poles Smith added that ‘‘there was always another option’’.
‘‘Abandonment or ill treatment of an animal is never acceptable.’’
Adlam’s daughter, Sammie, who shared the details of the story to Facebook, said a lot of people would have been happy to take the cat.
‘‘People in the post said ‘why didn’t you give it to me? I would’ve taken it’.
‘‘I just hope we can shake them out.’’