Cat death trauma hits family hard
A Wakefield family is ‘‘traumatised’’ by the death of their cat, who turned up covered in blood after being shot by an air rifle.
Jasmine Fellows-Freeman and her daughter Stella McIvor were at their home in Wakefield, south of Nelson, on Wednesday when they heard their cat Nilly ‘‘screaming and wailing’’.
When she opened the door, Fellows-Freeman found the white cat covered in blood.
‘‘She was on the doorstep, dragging her back legs behind her.’’
The cat crawled into her arms, she said. ‘‘All she wanted was comfort.’’
At the vet, an X-ray revealed a hunting pellet from an air rifle lodged in Nilly’s spine. With no way to treat the injured pet, Nilly was euthanised.
The family was ‘‘pretty traumatised’’, Fellows-Freeman said.
‘‘I don’t think any child should have to witness that.’’
Nilly’s injury wasn’t a one-off, Fellows-Freeman said.
Since moving into their home in January, Nilly and the family’s other cat Theo had had four trips to the vet with injuries the vet told them were most likely ‘‘projectiles’’. The treatment had cost the family almost $2000, she said.
They had their suspicions about the culprit, Fellows-Freeman said.
‘‘But without evidence all the police can do is educate people about the right way to scare cats from their property.’’
The family was keeping their remaining cat inside, and FellowsFreeman had advised her neighbours to do the same.
‘‘But you can’t do that forever. He’s squawking at the door, wanting to go out.’’
It was upsetting to think one of their neighbours was hurting cats in this way, she said.
‘‘It’s a small community, it affects everybody, there’s a lot of cats around where we are. It scares a lot of people, that their family pets are at risk.
‘‘I don’t want this to happen to anybody else.’’
Wakefield Community Constable Peter Jackson said he had spoken to several of the neighbours, but did not know who was responsible.
‘‘Someone has taken a dislike to cats. It’s not the greatest thing to happen, pets are part of your family.’’
He asked people to keep their eyes and ears open.
‘‘Hopefully someone will catch them doing what they’re doing.’’
‘‘It scares a lot of people, that their family pets are at risk.’’ Jasmine FellowsFreeman