Neighbour has shot my cat!

[ponderland]

Hi my neighbour was using an air rifle on Monday/Tuesday, it sounded like he was aiming for our trees and my cat does climb in them (they are not his tree's as he's one house down). My cats been acting different for a few days and today we had a proper look at him and found a wound that looks like it was caused by an air rifle. The vets are going to X-ray him tomorrow morning and check him over but what can we do about this? It seems so barbaric and I'm struggling not to go round and ask him what the hell he was thinking, it was the neighbour and his friend both in their 60's so not teenagers.

The neighbours garden where he was shooting from backs onto the nursery play area that my son goes to and he was also playing in the nursery garden at the time (I can hear him from my house) it's a very built up area with a school, nursery, and lots of housing. Is it legal to shoot anything in this kind of area? The neighbour always lets his dog chase my cat when he walks past our house, he takes his dog of the lead so he can run after our cat when he's just sitting in our front garden, we've caught it on camera and seen it happen through the window. His dog managed to get into our back garden a few weeks ago from his back garden, we were very polite to the neighbour when he came to retrieve his dog but he does seem to want our cat to come to harm from what we've witnessed previously.

We haven't confronted the neighbour before as I've always felt confident my cat would be able to defend himself against his dog so just let it be but now that my cats actually harmed and we are looking at £££ vet bills I'm not sure what to do?

@popcornlover

Does your cat go onto his property? Does your cat massacre wildlife on his property? Does your cat foul on his property? Does your cat mess up his garden?

Cat owners, have some respect for your neighbours, and for wildlife.

Your cat may have driven him to it.

What a dick! Imagine posting that on a public forum and alerting people to your dickishness ...

I'm really struggling to understand why you havent called the police already.

If I heard someone shooting and saw them shooting in the direction of a nursery garden then I would be phoning the police immediately. He might not have been aiming at the nursery but if he was shooting either anything other than his back to the nursery, then the kids are at risk.

I really dont understand why you didnt do anything.

Was there a pellet left in there. Your poor cat. Do not harm his dog like a pp suggested, not that you would. Next time you hear shots call the police. Keep your cat indoors for now. Do you have a local neighbourhood watch or fb page. Residents need to know that there is someone firing an airgun at animals. If the vet can confirm its a shot I would contact the police anyway. Hope puss makes a speedy recovery.

@popcornlover

Does your cat go onto his property? Does your cat massacre wildlife on his property? Does your cat foul on his property? Does your cat mess up his garden?

Cat owners, have some respect for your neighbours, and for wildlife.

Your cat may have driven him to it.

Even if this were the case it's no reason to hurt the animal!! What a stupid, cruel comment.

@popcornlover

Does your cat go onto his property? Does your cat massacre wildlife on his property? Does your cat foul on his property? Does your cat mess up his garden?

Cat owners, have some respect for your neighbours, and for wildlife.

Your cat may have driven him to it.

@popcornlover you’re either OP’s neighbour or a troll... yawn

OP so sorry about your cat, that’s absolutely awful, I’d definitely call police and report. You could also call RSPCA (I think it’s anonymous?) and report him for animal cruelty, they may consider a house visit if they think he is not fit to keep animals considering he is quite happy to shoot your cat!

What a shame if your neighbour woke up to a broken window

Your poor beautiful cat! If it is a pellet, then definitely call the police and talk to the nursery too as it's just so dangerous. And definitely send him the bill. They could have been aiming for squirrels. Some people are nasty like that. Or it could have been aimed at your cat. Either way, if a pellet is found, get the police involved.

@popcornlover

Not been getting out much lately with the schools closed?

Air guns should be banned as they cause so many injuries to animals (domestic and wildlife).
I hope your cat is ok. Some people are just horrible. If you don't want a cat in your garden then use a water pistol.
An ex colleague of mine found a neighbours cat at their door one night in a right mess after some dick had kicked it right in the face.

@MitziK

Next time you hear him out there, a phone call to the police saying there's a man with a rifle of some kind in the back garden of number 27 aiming at would elicit a suitable response. After all, you're not to know it's an air rifle, are you?

Definitely this.

Or get an extremely hard friend/family member to have a little word. I am available

(note: I am only joking)

Police

Not a cat person however I would easily go round there for you myself and give him hell! That's awful and, as mentioned, illegal to shoot off his land.

As you're doing, get any witnesses you can and report to the police with the info about your cat.

He will likely deny and police will say they "can't do anything" but there will be record and be ready to get proof if it happens again.

As a dog owner and lover, I would also kick his dog if it came after my cat and I would be going out there threatening him the next time I see it happen. If his dog comes into your garden just tell him you let it back out (but probably don't do this unless the dog actually seems vicious, as it would be horrible to see a poor pup being hit by a car when it's harmless but chasing a cat at its owners instruction) you can send the dog back but say next time you will certainly kick it onto the street.

Definitely inform the police if you find out if it's an air rifle.

This happened where I live (England) very recently. The police take it incredibly seriously. To be honest it shocked me how serious they took it.

When it was reported the police came round and took the bullet and I understand they used it for forensics, although if I do find that bit hard to believe.

However the next day a police officer went round all the houses within a 2 mile radius of the shot cat and handled out letters explaining that there was someone shooting cats and if they had any info blah blah blah.

I was told that a neighbour was threatening my cat for no reason. Not because she shits in his garden or kills birds (cos she doesn't do that anywhere near his house as he has a "hunting" -rabbit chasing bloodsport- dog) and he was talking to a mate on FB not realising I'd be able to see it. Apparently he was going to see how far he could kick my cat the next time he sees her. She's a tiny little friendly thing so isn't afraid of people.
I made it very clear when chatting to DH loudly, well within earshot of someone who was on the FB post that if anything were to happen to my cat that it would be a shame that we'd both be without a pet because a lot can happen to a dog out in its garden.

I get not liking cats. I get not wanting them in your gardens. There are ways and means to stop them. Just use a water pistol or a hose!

OP your neighbour sounds like he's a sick bastard who likes doing stuff like that. The police will likely take accusations of shooting cats seriously. Nothing may come of it but he needs reporting in case of any further incidents. They may even take action if they see CCTV footage of him deliberately using his dog to hunt your cat.

We are back from the vets. She said it's infected and cat has temp but not necessary to do an X-ray as she couldn't feel anything inside. A pp said it could be a burst abscess which the vet said too but it's impossible to say for sure. I am still of the thinking it is from a pellet because it's far too much of a coincidence. I'll talk to my sons nursery on Monday and if I hear another shot I'll be straight onto it. Luckily cat seems to be okay just quieter, he's eating and drinking. He's got pain relief and antibiotics for a week.

Years ago one of my cats got shot with an air gun. He got into the local rag with the headline ' A whisker from death'. (He fully recovered)

I followed a van going up my road a few months later with some little shit pointing an air rifle out of the front passenger window to take pot shots. Called the police with the registration of the van - and they told me it wasn't worth following up as it technically wasn't illegal...

Please report. (Before someone decides to shoot the bloody idiot and feed him to the pigs)

Really really hope your cat is fine and the idiot runs face first into karma.

Any news @ponderland ?