A BLAKENEY family is offering a reward for naming the person who shot their pet cat Tinker, breaking its leg.

Mrs Martin, who lives in All Saints Road next to Blakeney Church, told the Review that she and her husband had left grey and white Tinker sitting happily at home on Sunday afternoon.

"We were only out for a couple of hours. When we came back he was obviously in distress, and when we looked at him we could see he had been shot."

She said they rushed the cat into Severnside Vets in Lydney, and X-rays on Monday revealed that a rear leg was broken and an airgun pellet was lodged in the leg.

"I felt sick when I found out what had happened," said Mrs Martin. "I still do. We have had Tinker for nine years.

"He had actually been dumped by our house when he was quite a young cat and we took him in."

Mr and Mrs Martin also have another cat who is now quite elderly, and Mrs Martin said she thought the person who shot Tinker was probably a young person.

"Some of them have air guns. They shoot out the street lights, and I expect one of them thought let's try it out on something living this time.

"We are offering a reward in the hope that some of them might have a decent streak."

Head nurse at Severnside Vets Teresa Horspool said that after looking at the X-rays Tinker's chances of recovery appeared to be very good.

"We are starting to operate on him now. It's a case of putting a pin in the bone and then patching him up. We may also take out the pellet – it really depends how deeply it is embedded.

"We will keep him in for a couple of days to make sure he is OK and then he can go home, but he won't be going out for a while."