A disturbing story of an abandoned kitten in Truro, N.S. has ended with the cat finding its forever home.
Mandi Arnold and Paul Oderkirk were on a neighbourhood walking trail earlier this week, when they heard a kitten meowing in distress.
The sound was coming from an abandoned backpack in the woods.
“I really just burst into tears, because I knew the cat was inside of it,” says Arnold.
“Two zippers were tied together with an orange twine…and a copious amount of headphone wire,” says Oderkirk. “I just carry a pocket knife, luckily, and I just twisted all the wires apart and cut the twine that was knotted several times.”
The three month old kitten, named Dharma, was covered in feces and emaciated from its ordeal.
The couple brought her to the Central Nova Animal Hospital.
“We suspect she was in that back pack for about 24 hours and likely would only have lasted a day or two more,” says veterinarian Dr. Kayla Collins. “Her little nose was completely abraded from trying to get out of the bag, as well as the paw pads of her feet, they were also quite beaten up, just from digging and trying to get out and trying to escape, from the struggle.”
After a feeding, a bath and vaccinations, Dharma has been adopted by her rescuers.
“She’s just so loving. It’s amazing and that’s just a testament to her personality,” says Arnold.
Arnold and Orderkirk say they can’t believe anyone could be so cruel to a kitten.
“I didn’t sleep for a couple of nights, thinking about this and just the horror of it,” says Arnold.
“Just a case of being in the right place at the right time that we heard this little animal was in need of help,” says Oderkirk.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
