SICK thugs shot a cat in the head leaving an air gun pellet lodged in her face.

Pebbles was found with the gruesome wound when her owners returned home to St Cyrus Road, in Colchester, from work.

Amy Cooper, 22, who has had Pebbles since she was five weeks old, has been left devastated by the attack.

Her boyfriend, Dan Gillespie, 30, called police.

He has appealed for someone to come forward with information.

He said: “Pebbles came to greet me at the door as she does every day, when I saw the wound. I couldn’t believe it.

“It was so close to her eye it could have killed her.

“I know not everyone likes cats, but you can’t just shoot them. They can’t fight back.

“Why does someone have an air gun on a housing estate? It could have missed the cat and hit a kid.”

Tabby Pebbles, who is 16 months old, was rushed to a vet to have the pellet removed and the wound sewn up.

She is recovering at home.

Mr Gillespie added: “She doesn’t seem to be bothered. She’s a tough little thing.”

Police carried out door-to-door inquiries but we have had no information yet. An Essex Police spokesman said: “This was a sickening act of cruelty.

“We would like to make it very clear that using an air gun and shooting any animal is an offence.

“Using it in a street or shooting into a garden is highly illegal.”

Anyone with information about the attack on Thursday, July 19, can call Colchester police on 101.