A cat narrowly escaped death after being shot at point blank range on a quiet Skipton housing estate.

Black and white cat Archie is recovering at home after an air pellet went in through his neck, narrowly missing his spine and lodging in his shoulder bone.

His family, who got him as a kitten just over a year ago, say they are at a loss why anyone would want to hurt their much-loved pet.

Owner, Deborah Tolley said Archie returned home to Carleton Avenue, Carleton Park, at 11am on Friday.

“He was limping, on three legs and there was a lot of blood on his neck.

“We couldn’t see it was a pellet wound at the time, but there was a lot of blood and when we tried to mop him up, he hid under the table and growled at us when we came near, which isn’t like him at all,” she said.

Mrs Tolley took Archie to Kingsway Vets in Skipton where he was sedated before vets could establish what was wrong with an X-ray. It was then discovered that a airgun pellet had gone in through his neck and wedged in his shoulder bone.

He was operated on, and the pellet removed from his shoulder.

After spending a night in the surgery, he returned home on Saturday, with a protective collar and anti-biotics and painkillers.

“The vet told us it was clearly a very malicious attack and that whoever did it must have stood over Archie and shot him at point blank,” said Mrs Tolley.

The Tolleys have been left with a £500 vets bill and are now appealing to anyone who may know who was responsible to come forward.

“I’ve never seen anyone with a gun around here. Archie is such a friendly cat, I just can’t understand why anyone would do such a malicious thing,” said Mrs Tolley.

Archie is expected to make a full recovery and is already putting weight on his injured leg.

“I just hope if anyone does know anything, they come forward,” she added.

* Anyone with any information should telephone PC 1352 Victoria Barker at Skipton Police on the non-emergency number 101.