Tensions rising
APEX, the union representing Northland DHB anaesthetic technicians, is expecting further strike action following what it described as the collapse of negotiations with the DHB. A notice of strike action on October 10 had been lifted in the belief that a settlement was close, but that did not eventuate. APEX national secretary Dr Deborah Powell said earlier this week that tensions were rising, and further industrial action seemed inevitable. The word on social media earlier this week was this cat, found at the southern end of the Awanui Straight, had been set on fire, but that was not so according to the SPCA.
“His major problem was a burst abscess. It must have just exploded,” Heather Smith, who runs the SPCA animal centre in Kaitaia, said yesterday.
He was taken to Top Vets and medicated for pain, but had been going downhill because of the blood he had lost, and, being very frail in terms of his body condition, the kindest thing to do had been to put him to sleep.
“A sad outcome,” Ms Smith said.
An appeal on Facebook for the owner to come and claim the cat had not been responded to.
Ms Smith said it appeared that it had been left behind when its owners, who had been living near where it was found, moved away about two years ago.
The cat had been known in the area as a stray, but suspicions that it had been attacked by a dog appeared to be groundless.