A THOUGHTLESS thug armed with an air rifle has shot a defenceless cat as it was playing outside in Weston.

A THOUGHTLESS thug armed with an air rifle shot a cat as it was playing outside in Weston.

Samantha Wyatt, owner of 10-year-old Chloe, noticed there was blood on a window sill in her house in Sandford Road after she came in at about 6pm on Monday.

The 42-year-old mother-of-two asked her daughter, Ellie, to take a closer look at the cat to find out what was wrong.

Samantha, a staff nurse at Weston General Hospital, said: “Ellie noticed straight away she had been shot with an air rifle because she could see the pellet.

“We whisked her down to Beaconsfield Veterinary Surgery where they removed the pellet.

“The vet said Chloe was very lucky as the pellet hit her ribcage and lodged itself in her skin, but it could have caused internal injuries or even worse.

“Chloe is now on antibiotics but I won’t be letting her out of the house again.”

The animal lover, who has two other cats, Molly and Kate, and a dog, Cassie, reported the incident to police.

She added: “I would like people to be vigilant and to report anything suspicious. Just imagine if it had been a small child.”

Susie Rotheram, the veterinary surgeon who treated Chloe, said: “This was a very irresponsible act and there are other things to aim at rather then those which are living and breathing.”