A FAMILY’S cat was shot by BB gun wielding yobs leaving its owners heartbroken and devastated.

Mum-of-two Emma Hunt, 37, tragically found the cat, named Loki, lying in an alleyway surrounding by pellets close to Lapwing Road, Wickford, after he didn’t come home when called for dinner.

After taking him to the vets, it was discovered that the “small but solid” pellets entered his shoulder from a BB gun, which later penetrated his spine and destroyed the spinal cord, leaving the one-year-old paralysed.

The vet told the family that Loki would never walk again and they made the difficult decision to put him down.

Now, the heartbroken family is “begging for people to come forward with information” to get justice.

Ms Hunt, of Moreland Road, said: “I’m shocked and devastated that something so horrific has happened. What is really upsetting is that the incident happened on the one-year anniversary of when we collected him.

“He was beautiful inside and out, full of life and was just the loveliest soul. My five-year-old is sort of aware of what’s happened, but it’s never a conversation I thought I’d be having with him, and my two-year-old keeps going out in the garden calling for him.

“Since we reported it to police, it has been classed as criminal damage as he was micro-chipped, meaning our property.

“They, the RSPCA and the Wickford community have been so amazing, and some people have even offered to buy the boys Christmas presents due to most of the money saved being spent on X-rays and holding Loki overnight.

“We’re now just begging for people to check CCTV because something’s got to be done to prevent further instances.”

The incident, which took place close to 6.20pm on Friday, November 17, has been reported to police and Ms Hunt has been told an investigation is underway. It comes after another incident of a cat being shot at by an air rifle in Stanley Road, Benfleet, on July 25, which the police investigated.

On November 16, 2022, a Chelmsford cat named Polly was shot at four times – twice in the abdomen, once in the leg and also in her right eye.

A police spokesman said: “We received a report of a cat being fatally injured on Moreland Road in Wickford. It’s believed that the cat had been shot with a BB gun.

“This report came into us the following day and due to a lack of positive lines of enquiry, the investigation has since been filed.”