A FAMILY has been left devastated after their beloved cat died after being shot with an air weapon.

Two-year-old long-hair tabby Roy died on Friday, March 16 after being shot through the stomach and bowel with an air pellet.

His owner, Alan Burns, who lives in Goodchild Road, Wokingham, told the Wokingham News that his partner and two young children had been left devastated by the death.

Alan said: “Roy was just coming up to two-years-old, so he was still a very young cat.

“He had a lovely home, a constant supply of food, he didn’t want for anything. My daughter picked him out as her favourite, she would carry him around the house like a baby, and would curl up in bed with him, he was a very loving cat.

“I fed him and our two other cats at around 5am on Friday before I left the house, I let them outside and they were all very happy.

"I got a call later in the morning to say he had come home covered in blood, so I went home and found him hiding under my daughter’s bed. Usually he would move if we called him, but he wouldn’t move from his spot. I had to physically move the bed to get to him, and found his fur all matted with blood.”

Alan and his partner took Roy to Denton Vets, and they immediately suspected he had been shot.

Alan said: “They took some x-rays and it showed that the pellet had gone through his intestines, stomach and bowel. The vets told us it would be very expensive to treat him, but we asked them to do the best they could for him.”

Roy underwent an emergency operation and seemed to be doing well, but he sadly died later that evening.

Alan said: “My partner is devastated, she absolutely loved him, as did my daughter. My little boy is more angry than anything. How could someone do something like that?

“We live close to several primary schools and a secondary school, so it is even more concerning that this has happened on a weekday morning.”

“We discouraged the cats from going out the front of the house, so I think they may have gone off towards the park, or possibly into someone’s back garden.”

“I can’t imagine it was anyone down our road, our next door neighbour has two cats who Roy would go to see, so I think it was someone either at the park or a few streets away.”

More than 80,000 people have signed a petition set up by the Cats Protection calling for a change in the law regarding air gun ownership in England and Wales. In 2016, 202 cats in the UK were reported in the press as being shot with an air gun.

Alan said: “Air pistols should be licensed, it seems like anyone can have one. If someone has a legitimate reason for having one, then fair enough, but they should be regulated.”

For more details on the campaign and to sign the petition visit www.cats.org.uk/airgunscon