In Case You Missed It in Friday's Standard:

A FAMILY have been left horrified after their pet cat was shot in the head with a pellet gun and needed emergency surgery to survive.

Fears have been raised someone is targeting pets, as well as wild animals, in Dovercourt after magpies and other cats suffered similar injuries.

Jamie Brooks, of Norway Crescent, found his cat, Peppa, bleeding in his garden.

The 32-year-old dad-of-two said: “She had been out for about an hour and wouldn’t have gone very far.

“Me and my little boywere outside in the garden and we noticed some spots of blood on the floor.

“We checked her out and noticed a very small wound on the side of his head.

“We cleaned it up and didn’t think anything of it to be honest, but noticed something hard below the skin there a while later.

“When we took her to the vet and were told she had been shot, I couldn’t believe it to be honest.

“Why do something so mindless to a poor defenceless animal?

“The thing is they have shot her in the head – meaning they were trying to kill her.”

The pellet entered through the left side of the head, miraculously passing through without hitting anything vital, before lodging itself in her right cheek.

She underwent an emergency operation to remove the pellet, and is nowmaking recovering at home.

So far, the family has paid £260 her treatment, which is thought to rise to £300.

Danielle Poyser-Harding, who runs Paws and Mittens rescue centre in Little Oakley, is concerned after cats she had rehomed to Dovercourt homes had been shot or gone missing.

“There was a cat living opposite Jamie who was shot in the ear about a year ago and he lost his hearing,” she said.

“That cat then disappeared three months later and other cats have gone missing too.”

She added: “Although not everyone is a cat lover, you have to think about the knock-on effect this is having.

“These families have children who are devastated and the cost is huge.”

Police are investigating and anyone with information should call 101.