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‘Very, very disturbing’: SPCA on burned kittens

May 19, 2017 | 5:00 PM

The Prince Albert SPCA is asking for the public’s assistance after receiving five kittens for treatment, two of which had been lit on fire.

Operations Manager Liana Maloney explained they received the kittens Saturday after a Good Samaritan witnessed a group of children between the ages of seven and 12 tossing several kittens around.

The person approached the children and managed to coax one of the kittens away and quickly brought it to the SPCA. Bylaw officers and animal protection officers (APO) managed to track the kids down and get three more kittens from the kids.

Further searching yielded one more kitten. There were eight kittens in the litter but only five were found.

“[This is] very, very disturbing. That is why we want to find out who it is and see if we can break the cycle,” Maloney said. “We all know that children who abuse animals, there is a dark future for them and it is a cycle that happens a lot.”

Maloney was asking for help to find the children responsible to intervene. She also wanted to speak to the parents, saying they “have to be held accountable as well.”

Though two kittens are still in “touch and go” territory, Maloney is optimistic for a “happy ending in the works.”

She said within three months the kittens should be adoptable, however, many antibiotics and veterinary bills are on the horizon.

“You don’t know what kind of damage has been done. Sometimes they get secondary infections or damage internally that we don’t know from them being tossed around,” she said.

The SPCA has set up a GoFundMe account to help cover the costs and an anonymous donor from Toronto has put up a $500 reward for information leading to the children.

Maloney did say there is a possibly this case could be prosecuted as animal cruelty under the Animal Protection Act, but given the young age of the children, it may not be an avenue to pursue.

The SPCA manager said she ultimately wants to educate the children on what they did and hold the parents to account. She did acknowledge the fact there could be other underlying conditions that contributed to the incident. 

“That is what we want to have a look at. See why it happened, and how to address it. We are going to give them the benefit of the doubt, but what if this happens again?”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Animal Protection Officers.

 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr