A Fareham family have told of their ‘devastation’ after their cat was shot in the eye with a large ball bearing.

Locks Heath resident of five years, Tanya Richards, 47, said her black rescue cat, Cooper, was acting strangely and hiding around the house on Sunday night, June 1.

Due to Cooper’s hiding, it wasn’t until the following morning Tanya noticed a ‘horrific and gory’ injury to Cooper’s eye and rushed him to the vets.

She said: “Panic set in straight away and we thought he had been hit by a car”, but it soon became clear that Coopers injury had been deliberately caused by someone.

Tanya added: “When the vets said they pulled a 1.3cm ball bearing that they suspected had been shot at him that the anger set in.

“He is a defenceless animal – it makes me sick to think somebody would want to hurt him.

“It was a miracle that he even survived the ordeal. He did have these beautiful green eyes but one has had to be removed.”

Tanya RichardsTanya Richards (Image: NQ)READ MORE: Two teens from Hedge End and Fareham arrested for attempted murder

Veterinary nurse, Grace Cutler, 23, at Heathside Veterinary Surgery was one of the vets who operated on Cooper.

She added: “First of all we expected the injuries were from a road traffic accident but as we removed the eye and the large ball bearing came out – leaving us very shocked.

“It’s awful – we couldn’t believe that someone would do that. We think the most likely weapon was a sling shot due to the size of the ball bearing.”

Tanya has said her 12-year-old daughter, Rae, has been left devastated and furious somebody would try and harm her pet.

Cooper before the incident Cooper before the incident (Image: NQ) She continued: “I want to speak out so that other cat owners in the Locks Heath area are aware of what happened – I wouldn’t want another cat to go through what our Cooper did.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire police added: “Just after 4pm on Monday, 2 June officers received a report in relation to an injured cat.

“It was reported that the it appears the cat had been shot with a ball bearing, causing it to lose an eye.

“Anyone with information can contact police quoting 44250240625.”