A family has spoken of their horror after their two pet cats were shot at close range with an air rifle.

One of the cats lost its leg whilst the other had half of its stomach removed after two separate incidents in the Crook, County Durham area.

A third cat from Sunnybrow is currently recovering after surgery. It was shot deliberately in the head at close range.

Claire Gooding, who lives with her husband Jason and four children in Longfellow Court, Crook, said she first thought one of her cats - five-year-old Pepper - had been fighting.

She said: "I came home and I found him sat on the doorstep pouring with blood. I thought he had been in fight. He disappeared upstairs under the bed which is what he usually does but he started going downhill rapidly so we took him to the vets. They found three pellets in his abdomen. He had to have two operations.''

Mrs Gooding said that Pepper had also had a wound on each side which suggested that somebody had held him while another person shot him. She said: "I am sure he would have ran away after being shot once.''

Just a few days later one-year-old Scruffy went missing and the family feared she had suffered a similar fate but had not survived.

They found her under one of the children's beds with her leg hanging off. Mrs Gooding said: "The pellet had gone completely through the shoulder of her leg. These people are not shooting from a distance they are taking their shot at close range.

"I know that there are people who don't like cats but this is ridiculous. What they have got to understand is that these are somebody's pets. We have kids. My seven-year-old daughter was distraught when she saw what had happened.''

Vet Billy Moloney from Weardale Veterinary Practice, Crook, treated the Goodings' cats and is currently caring for the third cat.

He said: "We have seen cats in the past which have been shot with air rifles but nothing like this. This is not kids taking a pot shot. Somebody is walking up to these cats and shooting them close up.

"Air gun pellets have a low velocity and do not do this sort of damage when they are shot from a distance.

"These people have to take into consideration the suffering and pain they have put these cats and their owners through. The one we have at the surgery at the moment was literally twisted in pain and will never be able to walk properly again because it has lost its balance.''

Crook police has confirmed the three cats were shot and that it is investigating the incident. Witnesses should contact PC Andy Boyd at Crook Police Station on (01388) 762011.