Horrified SPCA staff say they are determined to find the culprit responsible for shooting an arrow through the head of a cat in West Auckland last week.
The injured cat was found just outside the Massey Archery Club on Red Hills Road on August 8, the New Zealand Herald reports.
The silver male tabby, aged about three-years-old, was also shot three times by an air gun.
SPCA staff have named the cat "Apollo".
SPCA vet Debbie Jones told the NZ Herald the arrow came out above the cat’s left eye after penetrating him from behind his left ear.
The arrow pierced deep through the muscle, but luckily missed his skull bone.
Apollo was also shot with an air gun, with one pellet entering the chest cavity and resting behind the heart, another behind his right front elbow, and a third hitting the lower ulna bone and carpus (wrist bones), shattering his ulna into multiple pieces and damaging his carpus.
Jones said the injuries had become infected.
SPCA Auckland chief executive Christine Kalin described the case as on the "upper end of severity".
It is believed the cat was found about three days after the attack.
Kalin said it is not known who is the owner of Apollo, but if someone recognises the cat he will be returned once he has fully recovered.
Otherwise the SPCA is keen to re-home him.
The president of the Massey Archery Club, Mary Thomas, said the club was assisting with the SPCA's investigation.
Ms Kalin asked anyone with information that may assist their investigation to contact SPCA senior inspector Kevin Plowright on 027 278 0907.
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