A cat had to have one of its legs removed after being caught in an illegal copper snare on the playing fields of a school.
Stripey the cat was taken to vets after being discovered by his owners at New Cumnock Primary School in East Ayrshire.
While they prepared for the worst, vets put Stripey through an operation which proved to be a success and the cat is now expected to make a full recovery.
An officer for the Scottish SPCA said: “Stripey’s owners live opposite the playing fields and luckily a neighbour alerted them after spotting the cat in distress.
“When his owner found him, he could immediately see Stripey was very badly injured as his leg was hanging off.”
“The vet prepared his owners for the worst case scenario, which was that he may have to be put to sleep.”
“This was incredibly upsetting for them as Stripey has been a much loved family pet for four years.
“Thankfully this has not been the case but he has lost a leg and the vet bill currently stands at 1000.”
The animal welfare charity is now investigating the circumstances surrounding the snare which could have killed Stripey the cat.
The charity officer added: “The copper snare we recovered, which is designed to target rabbits, was untagged and is non-locking, both of which constitute offences under the Snares (Scotland) Order 2010.”
“The snare was also found on local authority property where no permission had been given to carry out snaring.
“We are urging anyone with information on this incident or other cases of illegal snaring to contact our animal helpline on 03000 999 999.”
Our prayers are with Stipey!