Thugs shot a cat twice with a pellet gun, shattering its teeth, its devastated owner revealed today.

Walsall animal lover Leslie Eccleston discovered his beloved three-year-old cat Peter with pellets embedded in the roof of his mouth and in his shoulder.

Mr Eccleston, aged 47-year-old, of Bentley, said that he believed that his cat had been used for ‘target practice’ by yobs.

The attack has been described as a “sickening act of cruelty”.

Childcare worker Mr Eccleston, of Wrexham Avenue, said: “I am really angry, I have seen youngsters walking around with rifles.

“There are a lot of kids that play around and it only takes one stray pellet, it could be a child next time.

“It’s got to be deliberate, I think they just used him as target practice.”

Mr Eccleston said that he did not know how long the pellet in Peter’s shoulder had been there, because it had not caused him to limp.

He has been through a double operation to remove the pellets since they were discovered last week, and is now on the road to recovery.

And he voiced concerns about the safety of his other eight cats, which he took on with the house he lives in when he bought it three years ago.

Some neighbours have even said that they won’t keep animals now since the attack.

RSPCA bosses today condemned the shooting as a “sickening act of cruelty” and appealed for any witnesses.

Inspector Simon Davies, from the charity, said: “Air gun attacks cause needless suffering to animals and it’s also a criminal offence.”

He added that anyone falling foul of the Animal Welfare Act by causing unnecessary suffering to animals could face a fine, a ban on keeping animals or even a prison sentence.

The attack is the latest act of animal cruelty in the Black Country.

A pair of swans were shot in the neck and head in Wednesfield in March, killing one, while clipped geese were abandoned at the mercy of foxes in a field in Bushbury, Wolverhampton, in September.

Anyone with information about the latest shooting should call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.