A CAT narrowly escaped serious injury after cruel thugs shot a pellet gun through the window of its house in Overpool.
Owner Ian Evans and his fiancée Lesley were sat in the back living room of their home in Bailey Avenue last Sunday night when they heard a loud bang from the front room, where they found their cat Puddles lying near the window.
They then saw the moggy shoot out of the room in fright and hide upstairs, where she has remained for the past few days, refusing to come downstairs or even eat.
The next morning Mr Evans discovered his front window had been shattered and found a pellet near where Puddles had been lying, leading him to believe she had been targeted deliberately.
Mr Evans, 29, said: “The pellet smashed and shattered the glass and Puddles was only saved, according to the glazing company, due to the fact that the glass was toughened. Luckily it didn’t touch her but she’s still terrified and we can’t get her to come downstairs or eat anything.
“It’s not the £200 repair of the window we are concerned about, even though times are tough at the moment especially with our wedding coming up, but we are just really concerned about the safety of other people’s pets in the area as they don’t even seem to be safe in their own windows.
“I’ve read stories about cats being targeted this way before but our area is usually really quiet so I don’t know why it’s happened – it’s just a case of mindless vandalism that could have badly injured our much loved cat.”
Mr Evans, who plans to report the matter to the police, added: “For now I’m not letting the cats out, I’ll try and keep them in. I hope other cat owners will be aware of this.”
RSPCA inspector Anthony Joynes said: “Although there haven’t been that many reports of this kind of thing in Ellesmere Port before, it’s completely unacceptable. It may be just kids messing around but this behaviour is just cruel and can cause major damage to the cat.
“If the culprits are caught this type of offence can carry a prison sentence.
“If you see anyone doing anything like this, contact the police or RSPCA and we will investigate it immediately.”
