AN ‘ALARMING’ rise in fatal air gun attacks on cats has led to calls for a change in legislation by vets across Hampshire.

New figures have revealed that half of cats injured by air guns die as a result and two thirds of the public believe perpetrators may go on to attack people.

Now industry insiders are calling for a change in legislation to restrict the sale and use of air weapons.

The extreme decision to campaign for the legislation comes after charity Cats protection revealed that 8 per cent of people in Hampshire support the introduction of air gun licencing.

The feline welfare charity carried out a survey on 1,000 vets which proved that more cats are killed in air gun attacks than 20 years ago.

The charity now plans to call for governments in England and Wales to make it a criminal offence to own an air gun without a licence or permit.

According to Cats Protection’s survey, almost half of vets questioned had treated cats which had been the victim of attacks by air-powered weapons in the last year, with nearly half of these shootings proving fatal.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, a number of cats have died following air gun wounds in the past two years.

Smudge, the 18-month-old, white cat was killed just four months after giving birth to a litter of kittens in Holbury in October 2014.

Then, to owner Skye Hackett’s horror, one of Smudge’s kittens, Meeps was found dead six months later form a shot wound.

Daily Echo:

Mrs Hackett, above, who lives in Bower Close, hadn’t realised Smudge had been shot, as fur was covering up the bullet mark, but she realised something was wrong when the cat started throwing up what she described as ‘white foam’.

An X-ray revealed an airgun pellet punctured her lungs, liver, gall bladder, kidneys and intestines and the beloved pet was put to sleep.

Then six-month-old Meeps was found in the family garden and suffered injuries to her internal organs and had to be put down.

Cats Protection launched the research to mark the 20-year anniversary since the organisation first investigated the problem of air gun attacks.

Cats Protection’s Advocacy Manager Jacqui Cuff said: “The sheer volume of instances where cats are injured and killed by air gun attacks is very concerning.

“We are calling for much stricter regulation on the ownership of air guns, as we strongly believe this will help to protect cats and other animals from these shocking attacks, and avoid air guns falling into the wrong hands. We want to see England and Wales following the example of Scotland, where from next year it will be illegal to own an air gun without a licence.

“The statistics show that fewer cats are now surviving air gun attacks than they were back in 1996. It is disconcerting that only 24 per cent of the general public said they would report these incidents to the police, and that 53 per cent said they would do nothing. This could be due to a lack of confidence that the perpetrator will be found.”

Jacqui added: “If any cat owners have lost their cat to an air gun attack in the last six months we’d be grateful if they could send any details to campaigns@cats.org.uk. It will help Cats Protection to collect more evidence about the scale of these attacks and continue to raise the issue with politicians across the UK.”

A ‘keeping cats safe’ information leaflet can also be downloaded from Cats Protection’s website.