A pet cat had to be put to sleep after being 'shot with an air gun' near her home in West Dunbartonshire.
Five-year-old Rainbow was shot in the stomach in the sickening attack in Alexandria before she made her way home in pain and was found lying at the bottom of her stairs. Owner Pauline Sweeney urged other pet owners to be vigilant and keep their cats inside at night until the culprit caught, reports the Lennox Herald.
The mum knew something was wrong after finding Rainbow lying at the bottom of the stairs last Wednesday morning. After noticing she could barely move, Pauline rushed her to McKenzie Vets in Alexandria, who gave her the devastating news.
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Pauline, who stays in the town's Argyll Estate, said: “She was quite a nervous cat and if you came walking down the stairs she would move out the way but I had to step over so knew something wasn’t right. She could hardly move. She was digging her front claws in but couldn’t move from the waist down.
“I don’t know how long she’d been lying there. I took her straight in and she was x-rayed.
“They said ‘we don’t know how to tell you this but she’s been shot’. They believe it was an air rifle.
“There was nothing they could do because of where the pellet was and said a specialist was unlikely to be able to help. They found the entry wound in her abdomen but it had travelled to her spine and caused nerve damage.
“They managed to recover the pellet and the police came and spoke to me. The vet had only ever seen it happen twice in her career and said it wasn’t a common thing to happen around here.
“I just feel sickened by it. I don’t know how anyone could do this.
"I’m so confused and really hurt.”
Pauline says it must have happened sometime between when she went to bed on Tuesday night and around 9am the following morning.
She added: “She somehow managed to get over a six feet fence to get home, bless her heart. The vet thinks the pellet travelled to her spine after she got home and caused nerve damage.”
Police confirmed they are investigating and officers are urging anyone with information to get in touch.
Pauline and her 12-year-old child Robin have been left distraught by the sick attack and are worried for the safety of their other cat Mowka.
She said: “We buried her in the garden and Mowka spent time with her and wouldn’t leave her side. They both had free access to come and go through the cat flap but I’ve been keeping him in at night.
“I think it must have been someone quite local as she didn’t go very far. Maybe it was someone upset she was using their garden?
"I just don’t know but it’s worrying to think it’s someone around here and it makes you question everyone. I struggle so much knowing that someone is in my community capable of such a thing.
“If anyone is upset at a cat using their garden for a toilet just speak to the owner. I would have done everything I could to stop that.
“I’ve grown veggies in previous years and understand the frustration, but there are deterrents and I would have paid for them to avoid someone resorting to this. I would just like anybody who has seen anything to get in touch.
"Someone must have heard it. We have other neighbours with cats around here and they are really worried.”
Pauline is urging other pet owners to be on their guard and to keep their cats indoors overnight.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “I can confirm that a report was made to us in relation to the death of a cat from Argyll Estate in Alexandria. Officers have attended and a report has been recorded in relation to the Animal Health and Welfare Scotland act 2006.
“Enquiries are ongoing at this time and we would ask anyone with any information to contact police via 101 or via Crimestoppers 0800 555 111.”
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