A SICK sniper has cost a woman hundreds of pounds in vets bills by shooting a cat.
Kind-hearted Brenda Walkley, 62, of Bradford Road, Fixby, fears the total bill will top £400 for Pixie's life-saving hip operation and care after she was shot with an airgun.
And Brenda does not even own Pixie - the animal is a feral cat who visits her house for scraps of food.
Mrs Walkley spotted the badly-injured animal staggering across her patio.
Taking Pixie to the RSPCA, Mrs Walkley was faced with a stark choice. "They were going to put her down but I decided to pay for the operation. That was £230."
After-care will add about £150 to that figure.
Pixie's hip bone was shattered by the pellet. She suffered a broken leg and muscle damage.
Vets pinned the limb and are hopeful she will make a 100% recovery.
Mrs Walkley feeds a number of strays whom she has adopted.
"I had a little black cat, Sooty, who was actually born on my kitchen floor.
"Seven months ago he came to me and one of his eyes was completely destroyed." He then disappeared.
"If it was a pellet in his eye it would have eventually killed him.
"At the time I thought he had had a fight but there were no more wounds on him and there have been lots more cats that have gone missing. It looks like someone doesn't like cats."
She fears someone is systematically killing strays and pets in the area.
"It's horrendous causing all this pain and expense just for a few seconds `pleasure'.
"They want to shoot him and see how he likes it."
