Man found not guilty of animal cruelty

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The Weston man accused of swinging a cat by the tail and hitting her against a trailer last year has been found not guilty of torture in Kurri Kurri Local Court this morning.

Gregory Richardson was charged with animal cruelty, accused of causing serious injury to the cat dubbed Princess, just days after she gave birth to a litter of kittens.

At the time it was alleged a boy saw the 58-year-old swing the cat, and he and his mother believed the cat had died, but the found the animal had suffered a broken spine and legs.

Princess has since been in care living her life happily.

Image Sawyers Gully Animal Rescue Weston

Dog and cat blood donors wanted

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Newcastle's Animal Referral and Emergency Centre is appealing to Hunter pet owners to register their pets to become blood donors.

Both the Broadmeadow and East Maitland branches are looking to update their database of pets who are able to donate in emergencies.

Many patients require emergency blood transfusions as a result of trauma such as car accidents, rat bait toxicity, or any number of diseases.

With spring and summer approaching, outdoor activities with pets will be increasing, causing a rise in animal emergencies as well.

Managing Director of NAREC David Tabrett says pets must be of a certain size and age to donate and more information can be found on the AREC VET website.

"Blood transfusions are a very important part of the work we do for critically ill patients, however it is a fairly sparse resource that we can access and we rely on pet owners to make their pets available for blood collection."

Canine blood can only be stored for a short period of time, however feline blood on the other hand cannot be stored at all and therefore a database is needed to call upon in times of need.