Kitten recovers from air rifle shots to eye and body, finds forever home

A kitten that was found shot multiple times with air rifle pellets in southern Canberra last month has fully recovered and has been adopted.

Fergus was found near Kambah Golf Course in mid-May with several .177 calibre pellet injuries, including to his left eye and body.

RSPCA ACT veterinarians removed several projectiles from the then three-month-old domestic shorthair tabby.

He then underwent weeks of treatment and care from vets, nurses and animal care staff.

RSPCA ACT chief executive Michelle Robertson says it is intense work.

“His eye was really badly damaged and needed to be removed,” she said.

“We spend an enormous amount of time and put a lot of effort into nursing them [injured animals] back to physical health.”

However, there is some good news for Fergus as he is now off to a new, loving home after being adopted on Tuesday, 15 June.

“We were fairly lucky with Fergus,” says Michelle.

“It’s been just over a month and now he has been adopted. It’s not always this quick.”

Sadly, the shooting was not an isolated incidence of animal cruelty that RSPCA ACT has seen.

Fergus is just one of the many victims that regularly come through their doors.

“They all have their own stories,” says Michelle. “They all have experienced loss or abandonment, or in the case of Fergus and other animals, they were very cruelly treated.”

“Our staff put a lot of heart and soul into showing them that human hands can be loving.”

There was overwhelming help from the community when RSPCA ACT put out the call for any information regarding Fergus’s injuries.

“It’s always difficult when we see the ones that have been so badly mistreated,” says Michelle.

“All animals touch our hearts, but the ones that have been hurt, neglected and abandoned, they really pull on our heartstrings.”

Fergus has been renamed ‘Winky’ by his new family.

RSPCA ACT inspectors are continuing investigations into the attack.