Cats were killed every year about this time, says SPCA shelter manager Sylvia Murray. Photo / Northland Age
The killing of a beloved family cat with a slug gun has left a Westport family traumatised.
Buller SPCA shelter manager Sylvia Murray says it is the second cat killing in recent weeks. Another cat was poisoned recently and died an agonising death.
Jack Devine has a security camera image
of Warrick, a two-year-old black cat, crawling through the cat door yesterday morning but being unable climb the stairs.
Mr Devine said the image would be seared into his brain forever.
He didn't know how far Warrick had run in a desperate bid to make it home, but the vet told him Warrick had suffered a broken neck and a lung was seared by the bullet.
