My very first "official" rescue, other than the ones that I dragged home and told my parents that they "followed" me, was Peeka the cat. Some kids tried to skin her alive and they were almost successful; they managed to get all the fur off her tail and break it. Long story short, she had her tail amputated and my vet worried that she wouldn't be able to balance, jump or urinate but his worries were unfounded. She did fine, coped fine, adapted fine. She passed over to the Bridge at age 14 of acute renal failure but she lived a good, long life and you would never have known that she had been through such trauma had it not been for the tell tale stub. Animals are remarkable and deserve our respect for how they cope w/injuries and most certainly a second chance before we write them off and euthanize them.