Anguish of Sussex cat owner whose pet died after shotgun attack

Little Nacho disappeared from her home in East Grinstead on Saturday October 12.

Her distraught owner scoured the local area looking for her, contacted neighbours and put up social media posts in a bid to find her.

But five days later, on the evening of Thursday October 17, five-year-old Nacho limped home and was taken to local Portland vets where she was X-rayed - revealing she had a number of shotgun pellets inside her which had broken her tail and her leg.

A spokesman for the RSPCA - which is now appealing for information about the shooting - said: “Sadly the injuries had caused extensive internal damage and the kindest thing to do was to put her to sleep to prevent her suffering further.”

Her distraught owner, who does not want to be named, said: “It breaks my heart to think that someone deliberately did this to Nacho.

“We think she was probably shot sometime on Saturday as she normally comes home regularly - which means that she could have been suffering alone and injured for five days as she struggled to make her way back.

“I have no words to express how upset we all are to think that someone has done this to her.

“I want to warn other people in the area that this has happened and urge anyone who may know who has done this to contact the RSPCA.”

RSPCA Inspector Andrew Kirby is investigating the incident and said: “This is such a sad incident. I would appeal to anyone who may have any information regarding who could be responsible for this to contact the police or the RSPCA in confidence on our inspector appeal line by calling 0300 123 8018.”

Veterinary surgeon Rachel Bowron said: “Nacho’s injuries were the most severe that I have seen from a shooting incident in 23 years of working locally as a vet.

“Sadly, the extent of the trauma meant that the kindest decision was for us to put Nacho to sleep.”