The owner of a cat that was shot with an air gun in East Finchley is warning pet owners to be on the lookout to catch the culprits.

Teresa Ragona was distraught when her six-year-old black and white shorthair cat Luca failed to return home two weeks ago.

She said: “We let our cat out all the time – he went out as usual at 11pm but this time he didn’t come back. The next day we went everywhere calling his name, but nothing.”

Two days later Mrs Ragona’s husband saw Luca dragging himself slowly across Rosemary Avenue outside their family home in East Finchley.

Mrs Ragona said: “He was limping and exhausted so I took him first to the RSPCA and then to Danny Parry, the vet in East End Road. After doing some X-rays they said he’d been shot by an air gun.

“I couldn’t believe someone would do something like that to an innocent animal that can’t defend itself. It’s horrible.”

Luca had five stitches near his abdomen and ten in his back left leg – although the vet was unable to remove the airgun pellet.

A similar incident happened earlier this month when Richard Folkes’s cat, Lady Guinevere, was shot with an air gun in Finchley Central.

Lady Guinevere, a black domestic shorthair, returned to her home in Clifton Avenue limping and holding up her right back leg. The airgun pellet had shattered one of the cat's metatarsal bones and she was in a lot of pain.

Mrs Ragona said: “The fact this has happened before means it could happen again. Luca was in so much pain and discomfort, and although he’s slowly getting better we’re worried about letting him out again.

“We want people to be aware this kind of thing is happening. If people are on the lookout hopefully we can help prevent it.”