Cruelty to pet shocks owner
A cat owner who had to have her moggy put down after it was severely burned by a toxic substance has no idea why someone would do something so cruel.
Taupo¯ woman Dawn Dusk, 65, first noticed something was wrong with her beloved cat, Dante, on the Sunday of Auckland Anniversary weekend when he jumped through her lounge window soaking wet.
‘‘I just thought someone had soaked him. He had no cuts but I could see patches of fur were missing so I thought maybe he had scraped fur off trying to get out of being shut somewhere,’’ she said.
‘‘There was also a slight smell of eucalyptus but I just thought someone had thrown a bucket of water over him.’’
But soon the furless patches turned into small wounds.
She washed Dante in her kitchen sink before putting saline water over his wounds.
‘‘I was so bloody horrified but it did not even occur to me that it could be chemicals that were poured on him.’’
When Dusk eventually took Dante to the vet, she asked if he could be put down as he was always targeted by someone living in the area and rehoming him had not worked before.
But Rebecca Newth, veterinarian clinic manager at Vetora, said they had a policy of not putting down healthy animals so instead tried treating him.
‘‘We kept him in hospital and gave him pain relief and anything he required,’’ she said.
‘‘He had a couple of superficial wounds on his back and hind legs, as well as an ulcerated tongue from licking off the corrosive substance.
‘‘[But] over the course of a couple of weeks the skin on his back and behind his legs slowly died from the exposure to the unknown substance.’’ Newth said they were expecting a little skin die-back but what they saw was extremely severe.
‘‘We gave him the pain relief he needed and planned surgery to remove the necrotic skin and cover the areas with spare skin from his belly.’’
It came to the surgery and the vets were happy about being able to cover his back completely but the damage around his tail and bottom was so severe, they decided the best thing to do was to euthanise him while he was under the anaesthetic.
‘‘We are all extremely horrified that this had happened to Dante, he was a really lovely, affectionate cat,’’ Newth said.
Newth said they were not able to pinpoint what was poured on Dante
‘‘It could be something like bleach, pool cleaner, acid, cleaning chemicals – we have no idea.’’
Before being put down, Dusk had a feeling Dante was hungry so she went and saw him.
‘‘I was in shock. He just looked like a piece of meat with my baby’s head on it,’’ she said.
As Dusk surrendered Dante to Vetora, she was grateful the nurses and the vet let her see him before he was put down.
Now, Dusk just wants answers. ‘‘Who could do this? I just want to know who could hurt an animal like that.’’
Dusk has put fliers up around her council flats and has door knocked but, so far, no answers.
‘‘I just want to know who could hurt an animal like that.’’ Dawn Dusk Ownero f Dante