Another family cat shot using air rifle in Fawley

Emma Gilchrist’s five-year-old ginger tabby Ozzie was left with life-threatening injuries after he was shot in the stomach outside her home in Fawley.

The attack comes a month after the Daily Echo reported how Skye Hackett’s six-month-old kitten Meeps was found dead in her garden at her home in Holbury.

That came a month after the kitten’s mother Smudge was shot at close range in similar circumstances.

The latest attack saw the pellet rip through Ozzie’s guts, hitting his liver and stopping close to his heart.

Emma, who works at New Forest District Council, described the moment she realised Ozzie had suffered the devastating injury.

She said: “I came home from work and I heard him come into the cat flap and he let out the most blood curdling yelp I have ever heard.

“He came in and he was in shock and I immediately went over to him to see what was wrong.”

Emma immediately took Ozzie to Seadown Vets in Hythe, where he was treated for shock, and they then referred him to Southern Counties Veterinary Spec-ialists, where he had life-saving surgery.

Emma owns three other cats, Gizmo, 5, Stanley, 2 and Tilly, 3, and fears that her other pets will also be targeted.

She added: “Ozzie is so friendly; he would go up to anybody who came towards him.

“I would never harm an animal ever. What mentality do people have to go out and think ‘let’s shoot a cat today’? It is very sad. I am absolutely terrified of letting my cats out now.

Anyone caught deliberately using an air weapon to injure animals could face a £20,000 fine and/or up to six months in prison.

A spokesman for the RSPCA said: “These attacks can be deliberate by people who just don’t care about hurting animals or are deliberately targeting animals because they consider them a nuisance.”

Police say they are investigating the incident which happened between 10.30pm on December 15 and 4.40pm on December 16.

Anyone with any information should ring 101 quoting crime reference number 44140448057.