Pop the cat, foreground, was left in a dustbin

POLICE are hunting a man or woman who used a gun to shoot and injure a cat in Highgate Newtown.

The incident happened in Croftdown Road on Wednesday morning – and to compound the cruelty, the pet was then found dumped in a dustbin when its owners searched for the cat. Owner Pauline Andrews told the New Journal her six-year-old ginger cat Pop was luckily on the mend.

Ms Andrews said she noticed the cat had a wound on its side as she left her house and went to look for him. The cat disappeared – but later, as she and her daughter searched for him, they found to their dismay that someone had picked Pop up and thrown him into a dustbin.

“We looked at Pop and noticed the injury was caused by a pellet gun. There is a nasty wound on the side of his body,” she said.

The pellet wound on Pop’s body

The cat was taken to a vet and had the pellet removed. Pop is now having nursing care to make sure the wound does not become infected. Ms Andrews added: “My family are utterly fuming. We love cats, have two others and are totally furious someone would behave like this.”