Abandoned cat found with child's heartbreaking note attached to collar

Staff at the Effingham County Animal Shelter posted a photo of Violet on Facebook along with a little girl's note found tied round her collar, leaving people in tears with the sad story

A cat handed in to an animal shelter broke hearts with its staff after a child's note was found tied to her collar.

When Violet the cat arrived at Effingham County Animal Shelter in Illinois on Monday it became clear that she used to have a home, and a very loving owner.

The rescuer who found Violet described her as 'very, very sweet and loves to be scratched on the head', and her friendly temperament was explained by the message attached to her pink collar.

The folded up piece of A4 paper was covered in the bright purple felt tip handwriting of a child, complete with adorable spelling mistakes, under the huge bubble writing heading of 'Vilet'.

The message, corrected for spelling, read: "Bye Violet. I think that name chose you. I wish I could keep you. Bye Violet, I hope you get a good owner. Love Lacey."

Across the side of the page it continued: "To owner: please take good care of her. By the way, I named her. Thank you :)!"

The letter left staff devastated, knowing not only was Violet missing a home, but a child was missing Violet, as reported by The Dodo .

Vanessa Skavlem, an animal control officer at the shelter, said: “When we pulled it off and read it, it just tugs at your heartstrings.

"I just envision some child loving this thing, and knowing that they can’t keep it."

Violet was found not to have a microchip so the shelter posted a picture of the adorable cat on its Facebook page, where the child's wish to find her a good home was spotted by Cindy Murray.

Cindy said the note brought tears to her eyes and she decided to head to the shelter on her day off to meet Violet.

Before she set off she sent the post to her husband, saying 'I want to go get this cat. I love it - talk me out of it'.

He didn't bother trying and like that, Violet had an owner who could fulfill the heartbreaking request of taking good care of her.

After appearing nervous at the shelter, Violet is now confident in her new home, purring and happy.

Cindy says she wishes she could reach out to the little girl to let her know that her beloved cat is in safe hands.

She said: "I thought about doing a little video to this girl saying ‘Dear Lacey, I adopted your beautiful Violet.

"'She’s going to have a wonderful life — full of treats, snuggles and everything we can give her.'"