Family heartbreak after pet cat shot with airgun (From Evesham Journal)

Family heartbreak after pet cat shot with airgun

8:00am Saturday 23rd March 2013 in News

A PET cat needed surgery after its shocked owners discovered it had been shot in the face with an airgun.

Jules and Rebecca Swinbourne, of Drakes Broughton, near Pershore, were horrified when X-rays of twoyear- old Dregen revealed a metal .22 pellet buried in his chin.

The tabby cat had to undergo an operation to remove the pellet and needed stitches, antibiotics and painkillers, but is now on the mend.

Mrs Swinbourne, who reported the incident to the police and the RSPCA, appealed to members of the public to help catch the perpetrators.

The 28-year-old mother-to-be said: “It was about lunchtime on February 12 when Dregen came into the house and my husband said he didn’t look quite right. His chin was really swollen, so we took him to the vets and they thought he had probably been bitten by a rat.

“About two weeks later a hole opened up under his chin and we thought we could see a bit of metal in there.

“We took him back to the vets and an X-ray found an air gun pellet in his face.”

The pellet was removed by surgery and Dregen had to undergo a course of treatment to aid his recovery.

“He’s fine but we’re really upset,” Mrs Swinbourne said. “We used to live in Worcester and two years ago our cat was poisoned.”

The RSPCA says shooting animals with an air gun is a “serious and illegal” act.

And a spokesman for West Mercia Police urged witnesses or members of the public who knew of anyone misusing an air gun in the area to get in touch.