A PET cat had to have a leg amputated after being shot at from close range.

Russell and Sandy Chidwick, of Grove Green Road, Maidstone, found their daughter Gabrielle's cat, Owen, lying injured under a bush in their garden.

They took the three-year-old cat to the vet for treatment to a wound in his back leg.

The vet told them later that Owen had been shot at close range. The femur was so badly shattered that the leg had to be amputated.

Mr Chidwick broke the news to his five-year-old daughter the following evening.

He said: "Gabrielle was shocked at first. She is so young and couldn't understand why someone would do that. Then she was devastated and got very upset. It was heartbreaking."

The incident follows a report in the Kent Messenger last month of a similar incident in Bearsted on October 19. Police do not believe the two are linked.

Owen is now back home with his family but is being kept indoors for the next three weeks to allow his six-inch scar to heal.

His twin brother, Max, who is the pet of the Chidwicks' son, Joshua, eight, is also being kept in for fear that he, too, may be shot.

Mr Chidwick said: "Owen was a friendly and happy cat before this and now he is feeling really sorry for himself and a bit reluctant to purr. Gabrielle has made him lots of little toys for his basket so that he won't get bored and she is much happier now he is at home again."

He added: "The vet said Owen will be able to survive with three legs but that doesn't make it right. I can't express how I feel about the person who did this.

"I just hope they realise the suffering they have caused to an innocent animal and a whole family."

Police are investigating the incident, which happened on Sunday, November 14, at about 2pm. Maidstone Police can be contacted on 01622 690055.