IT has taken me a while to be able to respond to Mark Jackman but none the less I felt I wanted to still send my letter through.

Mark wrote in stating that his cat had been harmed and left for dead and that he felt it was only right that the person responsible step forward and at least cover the veterinary fees. I wanted to agree with Mark that the sick person who did this should come forward.

We too have had the same problem. We live in Cinderford and have done so for two years. We have had our two innocent cats harmed on various occasions during the past year.

Both have had to be treated for back and tail injuries caused by either having been stepped on or by having their tails pulled. One of them has been shot by an air rifle and currently still has the air pellet embedded in his chest area, and both recently were poisoned.

Whoever thinks that they are doing a service of some sort by trying to effectively kill our cats needs to be dealt with! They have no idea how much these family pets are loved and spoilt.

We have spent over £1,500 altogether on vet's fees, hospitalisation etc and more to the point, the distress our cats have been in is horrendous.

Luckily we insured them at an early age so have been able to claim the majority of the money back but this has resulted in their policy excesses going up, not to mention the fact that their records are now blotted with injuries all over them. We insured them to be sensible in case of illness etc, not to pay for someone's stupidity and ignorance.

After the recent poison attempt which left both of our cats fighting for their lives for two days in the veterinary surgery, attached to drips and having their bodies pumped with drugs to flush it out, we are scared to even let them outside.

We have seen the police who have no leads due to the fact that it is impossible to track cats who roam from garden to garden. However, whoever owns an air rifle and is so irresponsible to use it to shoot at a cat does not warrant having one in my eyes and should be reprimanded for their reckless use of such a powerful and dangerous weapon!

There should be stricter rules on these air rifles, because at the end of the day they are still a weapon in the wrong hands.

So my message is to the careless and foolish individual that is responsible for harming my cats – I sincerely hope you don't have any pets because I would be concerned for their safety.

Please just leave my cats alone. We are looking for clues as to who you are and will inform the police of any suspicious behaviour.

I beg of anyone who is trying to keep cats out of their garden, please use non-harmful methods. Cats hate water and there is nothing more effective than squirting some water at them using a hosepipe. It doesn't hurt but does the job.

Please, have some respect for these poor cats. They don't understand that you don't want them in your garden. All you have to do is to show them gently. They are intelligent animals who will get the message quickly.

Name and address supplied.