A newborn kitten that was abandoned at a Prince George pet store on Sunday (March 24) has died.
Staff at Total Pet found the kitten shortly after they opened the store for the day and phoned animal control, who took the kitten to a veterinarian.
“The cat was brought to a local veterinarian and euthanized due to severe birth defects and because she was in very poor overall condition,” says Alex Schare, Manager of Animal Centre Services for the North Cariboo District BC SPCA in an email to PrinceGeorgeMatters.
Although the kitten appeared to be severally injured, as staff say she looked as if her tail was missing and her legs were flipped over her head, Schare claims her alarming appearance was because of her breed and birth defects.
“Contrary to the information circulating on Facebook, we have no reason to believe that this kitten was abused or injured by a person. Given that this was a Manx kitten, she had no tail, but this is normal for the breed,” explains Schare.
“The cat did have severely deformed hind legs, and would have never been able to walk on them, but this was due to a birth defect and not because someone had broken the legs.”
Despite the fact the kitten was not injured by a person, Schare says that it is still considered animal cruelty to abandon an animal.
“We ask that anyone with information on who dropped off the cat at Total Pet contact our provincial animal abuse hotline at 1-855-622-7722 so that an investigation can be initiated.”
