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By Alyce Collins
Senior Reporter
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A heroic teenager has been praised after stepping in to save a cat that was being abused by a group of males.
Bertie the black-and-white cat was spotted being hit with a stick, kicked, and thrown around by a group of males in Birmingham, in the U.K. He sustained "relatively minor" injuries before a 14-year-old boy intervened and took Bertie home.
The boy brought the cat to his mom, who surrendered the animal to the vet. Upon being examined, Bertie has been sent to the RSPCA Birmingham Animal Centre and Hospital.
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Sarah Guest, the RSPCA animal rescue officer, said that she would "really like to thank" the 14-year-old boy and his mom for bringing Bertie to safety.
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She continued: "This was a really nasty attack on a really nice little cat. They were hitting him, throwing him, hitting him with a stick—the whole thing. But, bless him, he scooped Bertie up in his arms and took him home. His mum took him to the vet and the vet called us.
"He'd bitten his tongue nastily, but that's healing. He had cuts and abrasions on his face, a bloody nose and facial swelling. This was mean and really upsetting. He is a really lovely little cat, and the lad did so well to step in and get him to safety," Guest said.
The RSPCA is seeking to find out if Bertie has an owner and to gather information about the boys who carried out the attack, which took place between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on May 30.
Unfortunately, Bertie isn't neutered or chipped, so it hasn't been easy to reconnect him with a previous owner.
It is a legal requirement to microchip all dogs and cats being kept as pets in the U.K. Felines must be registered by the time they are 20 weeks old, even if they only stay indoors.
On June 30, the charity shared a post on Facebook explaining how Bertie was "cruelly attacked by a group of teenagers" alongside two devastating images of him.
Internet users have been left horrified by the ordeal that Bertie went through, leading to more than 3,500 reactions and 625 comments on the Facebook post in a matter of days. It has also been shared 330 times at the time of writing.
Despite what Bertie has gone through, Guest said he is still "very friendly" and it is likely that he does belong to someone.
"It's a shame because he's a really lovely cat in himself. He's a nice little boy and he's doing all right, luckily," Guest said.
Among the hundreds of comments on the Facebook, one person wrote: "Thank you to the brave 14-year-old, that took a lot to challenge their behavior and rescue the cat."
Another person replied: "Bless the teenager who rescued him, it took a lot of courage to intervene."
One comment reads: "Bertie is adorable. I'm disgusted that humans can be so cruel toward defenseless animals. Well done to the brave teen that made an intervention."
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