Family pet shot in Macandrew Bay

The apparent death from gunshot wounds of a beloved pet has upset a Macandrew Bay family, who are concerned the same fate could befall others.

Cheezel, a friendly 2-year-old Maine coon, suffered wounds last Wednesday which his owners, their veterinarian and police believe are consistent with being shot with an airgun.

The cat succumbed to its injuries on Sunday, and owner Andrew Long’s appeal for information on social media has garnered a huge response, including more than 2600 reactions and 460 comments on facebook.

"Cheezel was a well-looked-after family cat and one that was well-known around the street,’’ Mr Long said.

‘‘We’ve been here 20 years and had a bunch of cats over the years and never had a problem, so this is completely new ... we have got a lot of support from people on the street and everyone is completely horrified.’’

A week earlier, another of the family’s cats had come home with an unusual and unexplained puncture injury which soon came right.

Mr Long had thought little more of it until last Wednesday evening when Cheezel came home well after dinner time and in bad shape.

‘‘We didn’t notice the wound straight away, my son got out his torch and found it — Cheezel had pretty thick fur.’’

The following day the family vet delivered the shocking news that the two round wounds suffered by their cat were likely gunshot injuries.

‘‘They were perfect round holes, they weren’t claw wounds or anything like that ... it was pretty horrific.’’

Mr Long wanted to publicise Cheezel’s plight to alert other pet owners that their animals might be in danger.

‘‘We’ve lost a member of our family, effectively,’’ he said.

‘‘How can somebody do something so cruel and so brutal?’’

mike.houlahan@odt.co.nz