About 9am on Thursday morning Forbes Shire Council ranger Andrew Hubbard received a call from a passer by alerting him to the incident. 

He retrieved the cat from the lake and took it immediately to the RSPCA.

The female cat is believed to be domestic and is a medium to long haired silver coloured tabby.

There was no identification tag or collar found. 

The police were alerted to the incident on Friday and, with the RSPCA, are appealing to the public for help in finding information.

RSPCA inspector Bev Holloway said animal cruelty is an “absolutely shocking” crime and the person or people involved would face a large fine and or jail time if convicted.

“They are actually committing a crime of aggravated cruelty which carries a maximum fine of $22,000 and / or two years imprisonment,” she said.

“It’s a sickening act and a cruel, slow, horrible way to die.”

Ms Holloway said violent acts towards animals in Forbes are all too common. 

“No unfortunately they’re not [uncommon],” she said. 

“And cruelty to animals quite often leads to cruelty to humans, there have been many studies on this.”

Ms Holloway said if a person has a pet that they do not wish to keep, there are humane ways to euthanise the animal. 

“If you don’t want an animal, take it to the pound,” she said. 

“Drowning an animal is illegal. If it needs to be put down, it must be put down humanely.

“But the best way to manage unwanted animals is to make sure your pets are desexed.”

Ms Holloway appealed directly to the public for help in this incident. 

“If anybody saw anything or hears of anybody talking about it they need to ring the local police or the RSPCA on 9770 7555,” she said. 

“We need the public’s help because that’s the only way we’ll find who did this.”