Cat was shot and needs surgery to remove his leg (edited)

This is Atlas. Atlas was a stray who I started seeing around my neighborhood a few weeks ago. I have a few cats of my own, and from time to time, I take in temporary foster kitties and TNR around my home. I started making a plan to bring him in and get him neutered, rabies vaxed, and see if he was friendly and I could find him a home.

On Sunday, 6/22/25, I found him on my deck with a severe injury to his hind leg, where he couldn't put any weight on it and was crying. I immediatly brought him inside and made a plan to get him to the vet. At the appointment he was neutered, got his vaccines, ran some tests, and had X-rays to assess the injury (see image of the vet receipt).

Unfortunately, X-rays show he was shot with a pellet gun. I am absolutely shocked to find out that someone did this to him on purpose. You can see from the photos that the pellet is still in his leg, and it shattered his tibia and fibula (both lower leg bones). Even worse still, the pellet is lodged in between the bone ends and is preventing the bones from healing. There are two options to fix this:

1. complete amputation of the leg at the hip (cost around $1400.)

2. orthopedic surgery to remove the pellet and set the bones to heal. I have already had the X-rays sent to a specialist (see email in the images) with an estimated cost between $6,000 - $8,000.

In spite of his injury and being in pain, Atlas is sweet, trusting, and he deserves a chance to live his best life. It is sickening to think that someone saw him outside trying to survive and decided to shoot at him. He is only around 1 year old and hasn't known much comfort. I want to try to save his leg.

I am asking for donations to help get Atlas the surgery he needs.