Reward offered in Longridge to find who shot Tilly the rescue cat

Tilly has been confined to a cage to protect her leg during her recovery

Now the Brice family of Longridge say they have discovered other incidents of cats being shot in their local area during the past few years.

Their cat Tilly, a rescue cat, is recovering following two operations on a shattered joint in her leg after she was shot just minutes after leaving home in Redwood Drive on the morning of Sunday, July 12.

Nikki Brice said information about the other shootings came to light after they leafleted with a flyer offering a reward for information. Nikki said: “Three other households in the immediate vicinity got in touch and said our cats were shot with an air rifle as well.

A contented Tilly pictured at home before the shooting incident

“Tilly did survive but it shattered one of the joints in her leg into tiny fragments of bone. She’s had a big metal frame on her leg and has had to live in a cage for six weeks as she can’t move it.

“It’s not been a good time. The children were really, really upset. We would like the community to be aware ... we did think possibly somebody out there would know who it is. We put out flyers offering £100 reward for information leading to prosecution. People have now chipped in and the reward is up to £500.”

Nikki added: “Our cat doesn’t roam. She had only been out a few minutes. She appeared back at the door howling like a wolf and bleeding. We were a bit shocked to realise how many cats had been injured in quite a small area.”

The other cats shot included two kittens. Their owners live in the same residential area of the town on nearby Larchway and Chaigley Road.

Tilly's joint was shattered in the attack and she is due back at the vets next week

One said her cat Millicent had been injured one morning in May 2017 and the vet had to remove a pellet near her back leg. She said: "Fortunately it was not a fracture. She has got a bit of a limp . She'll never be back to normal. She's very frightened and timid. She's not the same cat at all. It's very worrying really. It's not a really big geographical area."

A few days later another local cat needed surgery after being injured in the same way.

Initially the Brice family thought their cat had been injured in a fall, so did not contact police immediately. It was only when Tilly was X-rayed that the pellet and extent of her injury was discovered.

Now they hope to report the other incidents to the police as well. A police spokesperson said: "We were called on July 21 to reports a cat had been shot with an air rifle in Redwood Drive, Longridge. The cat suffered a serious shoulder injury which required surgery. No arrests have been made."