A cat found tied up and "left to die" in a feed bag in a Hobart car park has been reunited with its owner, an animal rescue group says.
It is believed the cat had been in the bag for three days before it was discovered.
Small Paws Animal Rescue owner Whendiey Gearside said staff at a pharmacy in Rosetta, in Hobart's north, had noticed the bag earlier this week, but thought it was dumped rubbish.
On Wednesday they noticed the bag move and rushed it to the vet.
"When the vet opened the bag, they found this tiny little tabby cat who was covered in urine and faeces," Ms Gearside said.
"She was very emaciated and extremely dehydrated and she had urine scalds and burns all over her feet and back legs and maggots around her anus and legs."
Ms Gearside said a number of people recognised the cat from a social media post on a missing cat register page 10 days earlier.
The rescue group contacted the woman who had posted about the cat, who confirmed it was her pet.
It is not known how the cat ended up tied in the bag.
Pet and owner reunited
The cat, named Lucy, has since been returned to its owner, Wendie Oldham, but was microchipped before she was sent home from the vet.
Ms Oldham said she could not believe what Lucy had been through.
"I felt hurt, I felt disgusted in the person that did this to my animal," she said.
"It's the worst thing I've ever seen an animal endure."
She said she had searched high and low for Lucy after she went missing 10 days earlier.
"I put posters up, I walked the streets and spoke to people in their gardens but no-one seemed to know anything and I just kept on pushing my post," she said.
"I thought I'd lost my baby."
Mrs Oldham is hopeful Lucy will make a full recovery.
The rescue group said it was a "Christmas miracle", and have urged pet owners to keep their animals safe over the holiday period.
