Airgun warning issued after cat’s broken leg
Caesar had airgun pellets lodged in his hip and right leg.
The RSPCA has issued a warning for pet owners, after treating a cat that had been shot by an airgun.
The cat, named Caesar, was taken to a veterinary practice by a member of the public. They had been feeding him regularly, before noticing he was injured.
A check-up and an X-ray revealed that Caesar had airgun pellets lodged in his hip and right front leg.
The airgun pellets had gone unnoticed for some time, leading to the bone calcifying around one of the injuries. Since they now can’t remove the pellet, vets are considering amputating Caesar’s leg.
Caesar was not microchipped, and so is currently recovering at RSPCA Hillingdon Animal Clinic. The charity is calling on the public to support enquiries to find Caesar’s owner and establish what happened to him.
Sam Matthews, animal rescue officer, said: “We know from the X-ray that poor Caesar has been targeted by someone shooting airgun pellets, and two have become lodged in his body. This will have been terrifying and very painful, and had he not been brought into vets then the injuries would have only worsened.”
The RSPCA has reported almost 1,000 calls regarding airgun cases each year, helping hundreds of animals that were victims of air gun attacks.
Data from the charity in 2024 revealed a 30 per cent increase in reported airgun attacks on cats across England and Wales. This is a total of 70 incidents in 2024, compared to 54 cases in 2023.
London reported the second-highest number of incidents, with 31 reports of airgun, catapult and crossbow cases between 2022 and 2024.
Sam said: “We want to see a world where every kind of animal is treated with compassion and respect and deliberate and brutal acts of cruelty should be consigned to the past.
"We continue to call for tighter controls on air weapons. This, along with better education and explanation of the law when buying an air gun, and requirements that everyone must receive basic safety training before being allowed to walk out of the shop could help relieve the problem.”
Image © RSPCA
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
