Cat peppered with pellets by hunter

Nick Dorsett said their cat was shot on land near their home in Merignac, Charente-Maritime, and, although badly injured, managed to get to the house.

Vets kept him for three days and operated on his eyes to repair pellet holes and X-rays, see left, showed he had 14 pellets in his head and 12 in his upper body.

Mr Dorsett said: “Through one thoughtless action, we have a blind cat who needs a great deal of care for the rest of his life and a €340 vets’ bill. The authorities have, so far, been far from helpful: it’s only a cat.”

Legal expert Ms Marion Fargier at wild animal charity Aspas said with that many pellets the cat must have been shot at close range. She added: “Hunters hate cats because they eat rabbits and birds. Your reader must lodge a complaint with the gendarmerie along with a copy of the vet’s report. If not, these things will just continue and people will get hurt.”

Already this hunting season a mushroom-picker has been killed in the Ain and there have been around 40 other incidents with a dozen non-hunters injured.