Cat left with broken leg after being shot with airgun in Leeds

A cat has been left with a broken leg after being shot with an airgun.

Nine-year-old Muffin was found in someone's garden in Allerton Bywater, in Leeds, unable to stand up properly.

She was rushed to a vet where an X-ray revealed she had been shot several times.

Airgun pellets were found by Muffin's knee joint, near her back, and in her stomach.

Her leg was shattered in two places. Vets pinned and plated her leg and managed to successfully remove one of the pellets.

Muffin has been on pain medication and antibiotics since returning home.

Her owners - who live in the village - say she is back to her normal self, although she’s not allowed to jump because of the surgery.

West Yorkshire RSPCA Inspector, Adam Dickinson, said: "It's unspeakably cruel and totally unacceptable to shoot animals for 'fun' like this, or to harm them for target practice, but sadly, we receive hundreds of reports every year.

"Cats like Muffin often sustain life-changing injuries - commonly blindness - from being shot with a weapon or in some cases don't survive at all."

The number of incidents involving cats being targeted with airguns, catapults and crossbows have more than doubled from this time last year, according to the RSPCA.

Nearly 900 incidents involving weapons affecting all types of animals were reported to the charity between 2020 and 2023, with 31 occurring in West Yorkshire.

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