It's another horrific case of animal cruelty, this time involving a cat, and some of the images are very disturbing.
Residents in an east London neighbourhood sprang in to action when one of them heard a cat meowing in distress, but when they found it, they couldn't believe what they saw.
Shay Whitburn and her daughter found the cat early Friday morning outside their Railton Avenue home.
"The cat was probably about right here and he was meowing, and meowing, and meowing."
The cat had a piece of twine tied to one of its hind legs, which had gotten tangled on her patio table, but worse - attached to that twine - was a weight.
"The twine was so tightly wrapped around the foot - it was embedded - so we had to pull the foot back and clip the twine off."
Whitburn and her neighbours took pictures of the cat's hind paw, which was in horrible shape, and they believe it's because the twine and weight had been there for a long time.
Neighbour Victoria Dill says "What looked like toes were actually, I think, wrist bones sticking out, because there was no pads, there was no toes, there was no claws. So it would've been tied below the knee."
Whitburn and Dill believe they know where the cat came from, and were relieved that it went under Whitburn's gate and got stuck in the yard because it began to whine and they were able to help.
The pair rushed the cat to an emergency vet at 3 a.m. for treatment. It had to undergo surgery to amputate its right hind leg and is now recovering at the London Humane Society (LHS).
Judy Foster, the organization's executive director, says animal cruelty cases have become too common
"It is shocking to us. I mean it seems that every week we have one or two very serious matters that we are investigating and we are wondering what's going on."
Because the incident is being investigated criminally, the LHS can't comment on any treatment the cat is receiving or its condition, but there reportedly is a suspect in the case.
Police were also called when the cat was found, but the investigation has been handed over to the LHS.
The residents who came together to save the cat are all hoping he recovers and finds a new home.
Whitburn says, "I just hope that it finds a forever home and that it's taken care of and loved like it deserves to be, and that it doesn't have to go through this ever again - that its pain is over."
