A CAT which was shot with an air rifle in Tiverton has been left with a pellet permanently lodged in his head.
Ten-month-old Alphie's owner Stephanie Tucker, 24, noticed blood on her kitchen floor on May 17,
She said: "I came down in the morning and into the kitchen and noticed lots of puddles of blood everywhere.
"I found Alphie sitting on the mat and he had a little puncture wound on his head."
She rushed him to Vets4Pets, where she works in Exeter, and an X-ray found the pellet embedded.
They carried out two hours of surgery on Alphie but were unable to remove it.
"They couldn't find the pellet, which is about 2cm deep in his head, so it's just been left. It's just above his eye so it could've been a lot worse – he could've died," added Ms Tucker.
Vets are unsure of the long-term effects it will have on him.
"He seems fine in himself but I'm too scared to let him out again just in case anything was to happen," she added.
Officers are appealing to anyone with information about the incident and may have seen someone using an air rifle in the Lower Cotteylands area.
Ms Tucker believes the incident happened at some time between 6.30am and 7.30am.
Please call non-emergency 101 and quote crime reference CR/075342/14.
