Airgun thugs in cat attack campaign - shocking xray pictures

Mar 26 2010 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Cat shot dead in Birkby

AIRGUN thugs shot a cat dead in the latest in an alarming spate of attacks.

Hemingway, a two-year-old cat, was taken to Companion Care veterinary practice at the Great Northern Retail Park after being shot in the back on Poplar Street.

X-rays, below, showed a pellet had punctured his kidney. He died despite efforts to save him.

Surgery staff are now warning pet owners to be on the look-out for attackers.

Veterinary nurse Tracey Lowe said: “It disgusts me. These are someone’s pets and the people who are doing it don’t realise how much damage it can cause.

“They might think it’s a laugh, but it’s not funny.”

This week’s fatality came two weeks after another cat was brought in with an airgun pellet in his hind leg.

Two-year-old tom Niche, who lives with 23-year-old Klyne Allert and his family on Browning Road in Deighton, had been missing for two days before he was found with a wound.

Klyne said: “He had dried blood on his leg and couldn’t put any weight on it.

“I think it’s probably kids with ball bearing guns. I’ve seen a few others cats limping around.”

The surgery treated Niche but could not remove the pellet. Bills for his treatment ran to £200.

Tracey said another cat had been brought in with a shattered leg bone after being shot about two months ago.