AN animal lover is offering a £100 reward after a stray kitten she rescued was almost drowned by a gang of ‘hoodies’ in Grange-over-Sands.

Lisa Casey, of Yewbarrow Estate, Grange, took in nine- month-old Gizmo after she found him sitting on her doorstep.

While out walking thr-ough the woods, by Yew-barrow Lodge, with her two rescued Rottweilers, Milo and Poppy, on Dec-ember 30, she spotted a gang of eight boys and girls, aged between 14 and 16, hang-ing around a small pond.She noticed they were throwing stones into the water and, to her horror, saw they were aiming them at little Gizmo, who was struggling in the pond.

The 41-year-old cleaner said: “I didn’t realise it was him at first. I shouted at them to stop what they were doing and they star-ted to swear at me.

“One of them shouted at me: ‘It’s only a cat’ and then they all ran off laughing.

“I got him home and he cowered under the chair. “Me and the dogs helped dry him off, but he was absolutely terrified and couldn’t stop shaking.

“He is such a lovely, friendly cat, so he probably went straight over to them.

“He is very wary of people now and is reluctant to leave the house.

“I can’t believe anyone would be so cruel to an innocent animal. I am sick- ened by it all.”

The cat has a small cut on his head and leg after the incident, and is still traumatised.

The police were called that night, but have been unable to find the youths, so Lisa and her father, Jim Casey, are now offering a £100 reward to catch the teenagers responsible.

Mr Casey said: “Boys and girls who do this type of things to animals have been known to go on and commit worse crimes. We want them to be found and prosecuted.”

If anyone has any information about the incident, contact Lisa at lisacasey72 @hotmail.co.uk