TWO cats needed surgery after they were shot.
Their angry owner has asked for help to catch the cruel attackers who, she fears, could be putting children at risk.
Mrs Lynne Pogson, of Mullion Avenue in Honley, spoke out after vets operated to remove airgun pellets from her cats, Domino and Bagheera.
Both had been shot in their right hind legs.
Vets believe the gunman used a high-velocity air rifle.
Mrs Pogson said: "Both cats were shot on a Saturday morning, when children would have been playing out.
"The pellets could so easily have hit them.
"The pellet which hit Domino went through his leg and was pushing on the surface of the skin on the other side.
"The vet said it must have been a high-powered rifle to do that."
Mrs Pogson let both cats out on the morning of Saturday, March 6.
When Bagheera returned home a couple of hours later she was bleeding.
At first, Mrs Pogson thought Bagheera had been in a fight and took her to the vets.
She was given antibiotics and taken home.
On the same day, Mrs Pogson noticed that Domino had been bleeding.
Then a couple of days ago she noticed a lump on Domino's leg.
She took him to the vet, who said the lump was an air rifle pellet which had passed almost completely through the leg.
An operation removed it.
Bagheera went in on Friday for an X-ray, when vets discovered she had been shot twice.
One pellet had passed through her leg and the other was lodged dangerously near her spine.
An operation to remove it could leave the cat's back legs paralysed.
Mrs Pogson said: "The cats don't wander far from home, so we think they must have been shot close by."
Pc Michelle Jaques, of Huddersfield police, said: "We are treating this offence as animal cruelty and criminal damage.
"We would urge anyone with information to contact us."
Phone Pc Jaques on 01484 436789 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
