Shock and anger as pet cat is shot

Bruce had to have a pellet dug out a back left leg after being shot by someone close to its owners’ Pagham home.

Rob Collins and his wife have owned Bruce for 18 months.

“I am absolutely disgusted that this has happened,” he said.

“We are very angry as well as being upset and very shocked.

“We have two cats and it’s like one having one of our children hurt. We have found it very hard to accept that someone could do that sort of thing.

“We want to warn other people about could happen to their pets. I spoke to the police about the shooting so they are aware of the situation and have logged it.”

The shooting happened between midday and 8pm on Easter Sunday when the couple were away from their home in Boleyn Drive on a family visit.

“We came home and we saw Bruce was not using his back left leg,” said teacher Mr Collins, 28.

“It looked quite swollen. We thought he had been hit by a car or had an accident like that.”

They kept an eye on Bruce and, when the problem persisted, Mr Collins took a close look at the damaged leg and noticed a small puncture wound.

But the couple still had no reason to be aware of the extent of Bruce’s injury.

It was the next day, when the injury was obviously still bad that they took Bruce to a vet.

“She took a look and said she thought he might have been shot at the back of the leg,” said Mr Collins. “She thought she could feel a pellet in his leg.”

The vet ordered an X-ray which revealed the offending pellet – about the same length as the diameter of a penny.

Bruce was soon on the operating table and the pellet removed.
Mr Collins said: “The vet said that, if the pellet had hit anywhere else, it would have done a lot more damage.”

Bruce is being kept at home for a month while his bandaged leg heals and was on medication for two weeks.

The couple are anxiously waiting to see how well his injury heals.

Bruce is covered by medical insurance.

However, Mr Collins estimated the treatment has cost up to £500 to date.