Cat cheats death after being snared in trap

Staff at Oakwood Veterinary Centre at Babbinswood, near Whittington, have launched an appeal find the owner of the cat – and today also voiced their concerns about the use of traps.

They say the badly injured female cat would have endured an agonising death if a villager had not brought the animal in for emergency treatment.

Vets at the surgery had no choice but to amputate the cat's left front leg after it got caught in the trap, which staff say was likely put down to catch rats.

The black cat was brought into the surgery on Thursday.

Staff member Helen Jones said: "A lady who lives near the surgery noticed this little cat which she did not recognise.

"The cat then turned around and the lady noticed the cat's leg was caught in a trap, similar to a rat trap.

"She brought the cat in for us to have a look.

"Maggots were running all the way up the leg, it was in a dreadful mess and the only thing we could do to save the cat was to amputate.

"If the cat had not been brought to us and we were not able to treat her it would have been an awful death because the injuries these traps can cause are terrible.

"The consequences for animals if they get caught in traps can be devastating.

"The cat did have a collar but was not microchipped.

"She is not particularly old but she may have been a stray for some time. It is difficult to say how long she may have been missing.

"We would like the owner to come forward so they can be reunited.

"The owner would know the colour of the collar so they can prove the cat is their's," she added.

"She is a lovely little thing and very friendly but she was in a terrible mess when she came in.

"It was a dreadful open wound caused by the trap.

"Flies soon go to a wound in this warm weather and it does not take long for maggots to infest the damaged limb.

"Cats do well even on three legs and we are hoping she will be on the mend soon after suffering this terrible injury.

"We have made inquiries locally but nobody seems to be missing a cat, but we would love to reunite her with her owner."

The incident is the second time in a month that a cat in Shropshire required emergency treatment after getting caught in a trap.

Earlier this month a pet cat called Gizmo had to have a leg amputated after getting it trapped.

His owners Hilda and John Bromley said they though Gizmo was caught in a farmer's rabbit trap in a field in Tilley, near Wem.

Olivia Halligan, a veterinary surgeon at Barclay-Moore Partnership in Wem, performed the operation to remove Gizmo's back leg.