The RSPCA’s Cancel Out Cruelty campaign highlights the strength and survival of animals like Maggie
The tiny kitten was soaked through when she was found abandoned in a box in the rain with a painful, fractured leg.
Thankfully a member of the public spotted the young tabby and white kitten hidden beneath conifers in a field in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, in January, and contacted the RSPCA who came to her rescue.
She was suffering from a serious injury to her back leg which saw her bone sticking out and the wound had become infected.
Animal Rescue Officer (ARO) Kate Hertherington rescued the kitten, now called Maggie, and took her for urgent veterinary treatment but sadly her back left leg could not be saved.
Unfortunately, the person responsible for abandoning Maggie was never found and how she came to be so severely injured is still unknown.
As part of the charity’s Cancel Out Cruelty campaign, the RSPCA highlights that a staggering seven cats a day suffer at the hands of humans. Over the last six years (2016-2021), there were 16,212 incidents of deliberate cruelty towards cats reported to the animal welfare charity. In 2021 alone, there were 1,387 reports of intentional harm to cats and this peaked during the months of July and August.*
Maggie was taken into the care of the RSPCA Doncaster and Rotherham branch where she made a full recovery and was rehomed in February to Melissa Thoms, from Sheffield, where she lives with a 12-year-old black and white cat, Daisy.
Melissa explained that Maggie is an absolute character, who bounds around on three legs and doesn’t seem to have let her past trauma affect her.
She said: “You would never know she’s been through such trauma as she’s very trusting and very naughty but she gets away with it as she’s so gorgeous! Maggie is such a character, she’s just hilarious and is basically like a very furry toddler!”
From climbing the curtains, to playing with her older ‘sister’ Daisy’s tail, and digging out the most random items to play with rather than her cat toys, Melissa explained that she’s never known a cat quite like Maggie.
She added: “She loves cuddles and she follows me around like my shadow. She’s delightful and very affectionate. She will give me little kisses with her nose and she purrs like a tractor.
“She absolutely loves people and she’s confident in a lot of ways but I think our other cat Daisy can see that she needs some guidance so she stays nearby and puts up with her.
“The only thing that seems to make Maggie nervous is going outside, so she goes out when Daisy does. She won’t go out when it’s raining though – I don’t know if she can remember what happened to her but the only sign we see is when it rains she doesn’t want to be outside. She will start to physically shake and it does seem like it has triggered some trauma, as she was so wet when she was abandoned!”
Maggie, now four months old, gets around on three legs very well and doesn’t let losing her leg hold her back.
Melissa continued: “She’s so fast, even on her three legs. She prefers being speedy even if that does mean she falls off things from time to time! She does sometimes try to scratch her ear with the leg that was amputated. You can see her little stump move like she’s trying to scratch her ear with an invisible leg. I just tend to scratch that ear for her when I spot her doing it!
“Whatever she’s been through it’s not affected her and I think that’s due to all the great work done by the RSPCA. I’m really grateful they helped our Maggie!”
The RSPCA receives around 90,000 calls to its cruelty line every month involving all animals but in the summer (July and August) calls rise to 134,000 a month and reports of cruelty soar to 7,600 each month – a heartbreaking 245 every day. Our rescuers have worryingly seen a rise in reports of beatings and, with the increase in pet ownership and financial pressures growing, we are sadly braced for a summer of suffering.
The RSPCA’s rescue teams need support to stay out on the frontline as the only charity rescuing animals and investigating cruelty:
- £6 could help pay to feed a dog for a day in our care
- £10 could help pay towards bandages for a cat or dog
- £15 could help pay for a cat or dog’s clinical exam
- £20 could help pay towards a bird catching kit
- £30 could help pay for a life jacket for an inspector
- £100 could help pay towards water rescue equipment
- £500 could kit out a 4×4 inspector van
Our frontline teams are working hard to rescue animals in need this summer but we can’t do it alone – we need your help to Cancel Out Cruelty.
