AN ANIMAL-loving family from

Staveley believes their injured pet cat could have been used for target practice after she was shot by an air rifle.

Kathryn Nelson, of Beck Nook, was shocked and upset to find out that 13-month old

Mitsy, who she took to the vet after finding her limping and bleeding, had been injured by an air gun pellet that was still lodged in its leg.

Mrs Nelson said Mitsy - who needed an operation to have the pellet removed - was lucky to survive and she was "disgusted" at the possibility her cat had been shot at deliberately.

She took the cat to the vet on Friday evening believing the pet had caught herself climbing over something, but an x-ray revealed an air pellet had gone through one bone, shattering it, and was lodged in the other bone in her leg.

Mrs Nelson said: "She was lucky not to lose her leg, or her life.

A couple of

inches either side and it could have been her belly or her head.

"The vet said it must have either been a high powered air gun to shatter the bone or she had been shot at close range.

She must have been in agony."

Mrs Nelson said the family, which has another cat and two dogs, were all upset by what had happened, particularly her eight-year-old daughter Jessica, who was in tears.

After a weekend at the vets recovering from the operation, Mitsy is now back at home with a bandaged leg, although there is a chance she could be left with a

permanent limp.

Mrs Nelson, who suspects Mitsy was shot at on land behind Station Road, has reported the incident to the police but is worried something similar could happen again, or even that young children could get caught up in airgun cross-fire.

Mike Smith, of Cumbria Police, said any deliberate shooting of an animal was something officers would take seriously, and follow up.

He added: "Not only does it cause harm to the animal and upset to the owner but there is always the potential if someone has hit an animal whether deliberately or accidentally there is the chance of a person being injured in a similar way."

Over 12 months from September 2000, the RSPCA investigated 62 airgun attacks on animals in the North West.

The society has backed a bill calling for the legal age at which youngsters can be allowed unsupervised use of low-powered airguns to be raised from 14-18.

Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call police on 01539-722611.