‘They left our cat by the side of the road to die’

A two-year-old cat was found in a pool of blood just minutes after nipping out in the morning as usual.

Angus the cat had gone out of the front door of his home in Swinton, and would normally then return a few minutes later.

But his owner Debbie Fox, 57, would later discover that just 20 minutes after he went out in the morning Angus had been found in a critical state following a vicious attack by someone.

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Debbie, who works in recruitment, wouldn’t know about Angus’ critical injuries until later when she got a heart-breaking phone call from the Pet Medics vets in Wardley.

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The vet told Debbie that Angus was in a critical condition, with injuries to his face including a jaw fracture and injuries to his eyes.

“The neighbour presumed he had been knocked over – they rushed him to the hospital,” said Debbie. “We went straight there.

“The vet said this wasn’t a car accident, I thought they meant it was like a truck, but what they meant was this was done by a human being.

“They placed him by the side of the road where there’s a rail track and bushes to die.”

The morning of Wednesday, August 13, had started like any other.

“My husband got up at quarter past six, he let the dogs out and Angus went out with them,” said Debbie. “My husband went to work at ten past seven, and Angus normally comes running up the drive again.

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“At five past eight I got a call from the vets’ hospital in Wardley asking me if I had a cat.

“He’d been found at 6.39 am, about 20 minutes after he went out.

“I just can’t believe that something like this has happened within 20 minutes of him going out, which he does every day.”

Sadly, by Sunday it became clear to vets that the injuries to Angus’ face were so severe they couldn’t save his eyes, and they had to surgically remove them.

“They had to take his eyes out,” said Debbie, “so he’s blind and he’s got no eyes now.

“He’s two years old, he’s only young.”

Angus will need to be hand fed a liquid diet until his jaw recovers.

“It’s just awful,” said Debbie, “we’re trying to get over the fact that a human has done this.

“Everybody’s been affected by it, I was awake at 3am.”

Jessica Beckett, Hospital Manager and Registered Veterinary Nurse at Pet Medics, told the Manchester Evening News: “Angus was presented to us in a critical condition following a head and facial trauma, which may have been caused by being kicked.

“He had suffered extreme injuries to his face and was treated by an exceptional group of multi-disciplinary vets and nurses in various teams, including surgery, medicine, ophthalmology, dentistry and imaging.

“His injuries resulted in both eyes being removed, a repair to a jaw fracture and the placement of a feeding tube for a liquid diet whilst his jaw heals. He was hospitalised with us for six days for stabilisation, pain relief and the surgical repairs, and has been discharged home today for rest.

“Angus still has much recovering to do; however we are hopeful that he will continue to recover well. We will be closely monitoring his progression over the coming weeks.

“He was a fantastic, loving and patient cat during his stay, despite his injuries and all of the treatments he received.”

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “We received a report regarding a cat being attacked in the Swinton area of Salford.

“If anyone has information regarding the incident, please call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously citing crime reference number CRI/06FF/0022083/25.”

Anyone wishing to donate to a GoFundMe to help cover Angus’ vet bills can do so here.