A man has been charged over an alleged attack on a cat that had just given birth to a litter of kittens, leaving it paralysed, in the state's Hunter region earlier this month.
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It will be alleged a boy saw a man swinging a cat by her tail and hitting her against a trailer on May 6.
Police said the boy called out to the man before alerting his mother.
The boy and his mother believed the cat, which had just given birth to a litter of kittens, had died. They then found the animal, who suffered a broken spine and legs, had returned to her kittens the next day.
A 58-year-old man has now been charged with torture, beat and seriously injure an animal.
He will face court in Kurri Kurri on June 30.
The cat, dubbed Princess, is unlikely to ever walk again.
She has lost the use of her hind legs and requires manual help to excrete waste.
In the days after the cat was found, Sawyers Gully Animal Rescue Weston put out an appeal for donations, raising thousands of dollars for Princess.
The group ultimately asked donors to stop sending money specifically for Princess' care after they were overwhelmed with generosity.
The group received more than $10,000 in donations from 245 donors, including more than one contributing over $1000 to the animal's support.
President Dee Walton told the Herald earlier in May the cat was unable to excrete waste herself and would likely never be re-homed.
"It's just not something you can give up, she needs that lifelong commitment," Mrs Walton said.
The group offered an update on Friday that scans showed "Princess is paralysed for life, she will never regain the use of her bladder and she will be prone to bladder infections".
"The possibility of her living to the old age of 17 + is diminished," the group told their followers.