Appeal to trace thug who shot a pet cat
Hit at close range
The Scottish SPCA has appealed for information after after a vicious thug shot a cat with an air rifle at close range.
An x-ray revealed tabby Max, from Blackridge, had a pellet deeply lodged between his eye socket and optic nerve. The pellet is now permanently embedded in Max’s skull. And the two-year-old cat, who was shot on Wednesday, September 7, is now on a course of antibiotics to fight off any infections that might occur from the injury.
Max ’ s owner, Andrew Murchison, said: “He managed to make it home and when he came into the living room he lost control of his back legs and his balance seemed to go. We couldn’t actually see anything wrong with him externally so we assumed he was having a seizure. We took him straight to the vet who carried out scans and blood tests. When we got Max home the next day blood started pouring from his nose. He was transferred to the vet school in Edinburgh where he was given an x-ray and that’s when we saw the metal and the pellet. They operated on him for over three hours and were able to remove most of the shrapnel. However, the main body of the pellet was so deeply lodged in between his eye socket and optic nerve that they would have to remove his eye to get it out. Max is not out of the woods yet and has a lot of recovering to do but we are hopeful that he’s going to be okay. It has been a horrific experience for our family and we are hoping he makes a full recovery.”
An undercover Scottish SPCA inspector said: “It is appalling that animals such as Max are being targeted and caused such pain and suffering. Disturbingly, some people seem to think it is fun to maim and kill defenceless animals with air weapons and this is completely unacceptable.”
Anyone with information should call the SPCA on 03000 999 999. Calls are in strict confidence.