A cat sealed inside of a box with a cord around its neck was found in front of a Toronto animal shelter.

Etobicoke Humane Societysays it's not uncommon for boxes with supplies or donations to be left at their door, but they could tell this one wasn't a regular package.

The box was "taped shut with packing tape and had telephone cord wrapped around it to fashion a crude handle," theanimal shelter posted on Facebookon Saturday.

Upon opening the box, they found a brown tabby cat that seemed scared and had some of the telephone cord wrapped loosely around its neck.

Shortly following the cat's arrival at the shelter, staff took her to the vet after noticing her left paw and most of her rear left leg was missing.

The vet said that the missing leg was likely due to trauma and not any kind of surgical procedure.

"How this could have happened can only be conjured in our imaginations," the shelter said in their Facebook post.

Staff named the rescue cat "Octavia." Doctors said her missing limb was causing a lot of pain, and therefore she'll need an amputation for the remaining parts of her leg.

The surgery is set to cost $2,000, which the shelter said is an unexpected cost for them — so they're asking for thepublic's help with donationsfor poor Octavia's surgery.