Jay is re-united with his owner Sarah Vaughan. Picture by Peter Boam.
A BELOVED pet cat will lose its eye — and was millimetres away from losing his life — after he was callously shot with an air weapon.
Jay, the black tom cat, yesterday (Thursday) had an operation to have his left eye removed after he was shot in the head on Tuesday afternoon.
The pellet, which is lodged in his lower jaw, caused so much soft tissue damage, vets at the Riverbank Veterinary Clinic in Newport said Jay was lucky to have survived the shooting.
The owners of 12-year-old Jay, Sarah Vaughan and Mark Follett, of Victoria Road, Newport, were on a camping holiday in Devon when a friend broke the news to them on Tuesday evening.
Ms Vaughan, classified and advertising administration manager at the County Press, estimates her vet bill will run over £1,500. Jay was not insured.
She said: "The person who did this is scum. It is beyond belief. I can’t believe anyone would want to do that to an innocent animal. It brings up the whole issue of weapon licensing.
"The police have told me that because the weapon is probably unlicensed, the chances of catching the culprit are slim.
"We moved here in September last year and thought it was a lovely area, but I just feel like I don’t want to live here any more. I’ve got two cats, so when I’m at work I’ll be worrying about them all day long."
Paul Pollard, clinical director at Riverbank, said vets initially thought Jay had been run over, so severe were his injuries, but were shocked to discover, after viewing his X-rays, that he had been shot.
He said: "Jay was very lucky to survive. The pellet missed his brain by millimetres. Unfortunately, this kind of case is not uncommon and I often wonder what the mentality of these people is. Jay’s a lovely cat — very friendly — and we are optimistic about his recovery."
Anyone with information can ring Newport police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111
Reporter: jonm@iwcpmail.co.uk .