A cat lover who rescued a kitten from a kicking in Greece brought the animal home to Medway – only for it to be shot with an airgun.

Anthony Hufton was on holiday in Halkidiki when he was horrified to see the stray cat kicked out of the hotel patio area.

Mr Hufton approached the staff and told them not to do it but when they repeated the assault on the creature he “just lost it”.

Mr Hufton, 27, a contracts manager, was on a two-week break and befriended the animal, regularly feeding her leftovers and named her Smidge.

He decided to bring Smidge back to England but after approaching holiday company reps realised he could not afford the £3,000 needed to get her back.

Undeterred, he spent time on the internet and tracked down an English woman who lived in Greece and had set up a rescue mission for dogs.

He persuaded her to take on Smidge’s case and before returning home handed over £1,000 of his holiday money to pay for food, shelter and the paperwork, including a pet passport.

The two kept in contact and nine months later after a journey via air, land and sea, Smidge arrived on English shores.

Mr Hufton picked her up and took her to his parents’ home in Rectory Road, Cliffe, where he thought she would be safe.

He said: “I live on a busy road near Gravesend, so I would be worried all the time that she might be run over.” To his horror, his father Steve Hufton rang him to say that Smidge was limping badly and appeared in pain.

A trip to the vets the next day showed that Smidge’s leg had been broken by an airgun pellet.

An X-ray revealed a second pellet lodged in her abdomen. She has since undergone specialist surgery at the Royal Veterinary College in Hertfordshire and bills have rocketed to about £4,000.

Mr Hufton senior, 56, said he and his wife Elaine, 56, were woken in the early hours of the morning by Smidge’s squeals.

Sales director Mr Hufton said: “This was not kids, more like somebody with a vendetta against cats.

“The cat is now home, but has to be kept in for several weeks. The cat should have been rescued for a better life, not worse.”

Anthony Hufton said the whole shooting episode was “very upsetting” but he does not regret saving Smidge from being mistreated abroad.

He said: “If I had not brought her home I’d still be thinking of her every day.”

Police are investigating.