A neighbourhood is on alert after a cat was shot twice with an airgun in a sickening attack in west London.
Kino, a one-year-old male cat, was taken to the vets by his owner on October 6 with what he thought was just a sore paw.
However, vets took the cat to the x-ray theatre after finding a suspicious wound on the front of his right paw.
X-rays revealed an air gun pellet had been lodged into Kino’s paw, and another air pellet was found in his abdomen.
Kino’s owner, Moheb Noori, said he first thought the cat had picked up a minor injury from fighting with another cat or a fox.
He told the Standard: “When he had his x-ray they found bullets, and very dangerous ones as well, bullets that are designed to hurt people.
“I told them in the vets that if I find that person I’m going to shoot them with their own gun.”
Fortunately for Persian cat Kino, the pellet in his abdomen had just missed his intestines, which if hit would likely have caused a fatal injury.
The pellet in the paw was removed under anaesthesia and the wound was cleaned and sutured.
The pellet in the abdomen appeared to be from a previous event, as there was no recent wound in his abdomen.
Mr Noori added that he knew a lot of his neighbours and that they would never do something like this to his cat.
The 28 year-old car technician said: “There must be some heartless people out there.
“My cat is not one of those fighting cats, he doesn’t bite people and he’s very relaxed, he’s a very friendly cat.”
Vet Matthew Wilson, who treated Kino, said: “Kino is recovering at home.
“He is very lucky that he has not been left with more severe injuries and we hope that he will make a speedy recovery after his ordeal.
“The use of pointed air gun pellets is particularly worrying as these type of pellets will penetrate further into tissues and could easily cause life-threatening injuries.”
