CAT owners from Chepstow have made an appeal for information after their beloved pet was suspected to have been shot with a pellet gun.
Mike Cannaby and Helen Livesey-Jones said their cat Freya needs surgery to repair her "shattered" leg, which x-rays showed had been struck by a .22 pellet.
In the worst case scenario, Freya's leg may need to be amputated, Mr Cannaby said.
He told the Argus he had put food out for Freya this morning, shortly before 8am, at the family home in Victoria Road, Bulwark, where their back garden leads down to a wall and, behind that, an open lane.
Freya was limping, and after Mr Cannaby took her to the vet's surgery for an x-ray, he was stunned to later receive a phone call confirming she had been shot.
"I nearly fell off my chair," he said as he recalled hearing the news. "It's certainly something you wouldn't expect."
Ex-soldier Mr Cannaby said he was alarmed not just that his own pet had been hurt, but that someone could be carrying a pellet gun in the neighbourhood, where there are lots of young families living.
"Got knows what other damage they've done [to others]," he said. "If [the pellet] had been another half-inch to the side it would have gone straight though Freya's chest."
He added: "Who in their right mind would be out shooting?"
Mr Cannaby has attempted to report the matter to the police and in the meantime has asked anyone with information about the incident to come forward.
Freya is due to have an operation on Tuesday to treat her injured leg.
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