Thessaloniki: Lawsuit against strangers for cutting off a cat’s three legs
A new incident of animal abuse in Thessaloniki caused shock. A kitten was found with three of its limbs amputated, with experts saying it was human intervention.
The kitten was found on Sunday and although the initial thought about his injuries was an accident, it eventually appeared that the wounds were caused by a sharp object from a person.
“The nature of the injuries indicate human intervention (direct or indirect, ie more likely injuries from the use of a sharp, heavy-type instrument or less likely from the illegal use of wild mammal traps – “barrel”) and the wounds of the animal are not related to accidental wounds (eg x accident)”, the report of the forensic veterinarian says.
As announced by the “Agathagelidis” veterinary clinic, where “Hefaistos” was hospitalized, as the cat’s name is, “he underwent surgery to clean and remove dead tissue from the severed limbs as well as to prepare them to receive the prosthetic arms in the future.
The orange cat received the care of the veterinarian Kyriakos Agathagelidis for a few days and will soon return to surgery to undergo surgery for the placement of prosthetic limbs, to be able to stand on his feet again.
Proceedings against strangers will be filed after a case was filed at the Lagada police station in Thessaloniki, by a representative of animal welfare, for abusing a pet.
Speaking to the Athenian Macedonian News Agency, Mr. Agathagelides stated that when the injured cat was brought to his clinic a week ago, it was almost deformed and at first he believed that the cuts were caused by a traffic accident, but the wounds are good. It was special that he did not match them with what he had encountered in his years of work.
“Other injuries come, in many cases, from crushing or traffic accidents. But they include injuries from other animals, usually dogs and traps. In this case I see that the incisions are made with a sharp object. The point of the cut is straight, we cannot make such cuts even with a scalpel. I sent the photos to the professors of the University of Karditsa, so that they can also examine the case of their experience and they confirmed my poor finding that the damage was caused by a person,” he said.
He noticed that three legs were amputated and the fourth, however, was also badly injured.
“There is surgery, implants are inserted and prosthetic limbs are placed on top of them. In this phase we try to protect him from secondary infections. We submitted him to a long-term operation yesterday, we will also have a CT scan in two weeks, to see how his bones are doing.”