AN ELDERLY cat narrowly escaped death after being shot twice with an air rifle and then run over.

Shadow, a 12-year-old rescue cat, has spent two weeks at the vet's after he was shot in the stomach and chest, and temporarily paralysed when he was hit by a car.

He was found by neighbours after he crawled to their garden on September 27.

His owner, Colin McLean, from Brixey Road in Parkstone, said one of the pellets missed his heart by a fraction.

"Had it hit his heart, he would have been killed outright," said Mr McLean, who has spent hundreds of pounds on treatment from a vet and an orthopaedic specialist.

"I'm very attached to him, he's a nice chap and I wanted to do everything I could for him. He was in a lot of pain at the start, but the specialist thinks he's got an 80 to 90 per cent chance of recovery."

Shadow is back at home now, but has to be kept inside for at least a month.

"He's struggling onto his feet at the moment and walking," said Mr McLean, 60.

"He can walk a few steps now before he flops down, so he's getting more strength back each day."

RSPCA spokeswoman Jo Barr said Mr McLean has looked after Shadow very well since taking him on as a kitten.

She added that the RSPCA is concerned about the number of cat shootings by air rifles - last six months, 2,100 of these incidents were reported across the country.

"It's a growing problem," she said. "There was one in Bournemouth a couple of weeks ago as well.

"People don't think about air guns as weapons, but it's really quite amazing that Shadow survived."

She added that this is against the law, and appealed to anyone who knows who was responsible for the attack to contact the RSPCA's confidential incident hotline on 08705 555999.

First published: October 14