Leanne Anslon, owner, pictured with Muffin

by Gerry Warren

gwarren@thekmgroup.co.uk

Cat owners in Boughton are being warned to keep their animals indoors at night after a cruel gunman maimed two family pets.

An 18-month-old tabby called Muffin had its lower jaw smashed by a bullet and another cat had to have a leg amputated after being shot.

Police are linking both incidents, which are thought to have happened in a field which backs onto The Street.

The vet who treated both pets says the injuries were horrific and probably inflicted by a high-powered rifle rather than an airgun.

Muffin belongs to 23-year-old care worker Leanne Anslow, who lives in The Street with her partner and two young children.

She said: "We have had two cats since they were kittens and they both go out in the field but come in at night.

"But last Thursday Muffin did not come back in the evening like she would normally do. My partner Mark stayed up late downstairs to wait for her.

"When she eventually returned at about 3am, he saw that half her jaw was hanging off. It looked horrific and we took her straight to the emergency vet in Canterbury.

"She was then taken in by our own vets, the Lady Dane Veterinary Centre in Faversham where they had to operate to remove her lower jaw which couldn't be saved.

"It was touch and go and at one stage they weren't sure if she would pull through and I was in tears because she really is part of the family and so affectionate.2

Vet Jasper Gale said he removed fragments of the bullet from the jaw and face of Muffin, which he believes may have come from a .22 rifle.

He said: "The damage was extensive and unfortunately there was no way we could save her jaw bone.

"To have two animals brought into us with these kind of injuries in a short space of time indicates to me that it was not an accident and someone was out to kill these cats.

"There is no way that anyone lamping for rabbits, for example, would mistake a cat for a rabbit.

"We are appalled that anyone would deliberately target family pets like this and cause the cats so much suffering."

The first cat was shot on October 19, but the owners did not want to be indentified.

Mr Gale added: "Its injuries were equally horrific and unfortunately we could not save its leg, which had been shattered by the bullet at the joint."

Miss Anslow said: "I still can't believe someone would do something like this. It has made me so angry but other cat owners need to be warned about it and perhaps think about keeping their pets in at night.

"Remarkably, Muffin is making a good recovery and it still as affectionate as ever despite what she has been through. But we won't be letting her or our other cat Cookie out at night again."

Kent police spokesman Lesley Miller said community officers were investigating the attacks on the cats, which are being treated as criminal damage.