Horror as pet cat shot with air rifle in Chesterfield leaving pellet lodged in his spine

Cisco is now recovering at home after being shot with an air rifle in an attack which has left a pellet lodged in his spine

Yvonne Henchcliffe, 54, and her son Luke Hicklin, 27, were left ‘absolutely distraught’ after learning that their beloved cat Cisco had been shot at around 10pm on Monday, July 5.

The pair faced a £1,200 vet bill after the one-year-old moggy was found bloodied in the back garden of their home in Maynard Road, Boythorpe.

Now, they are raising money to help cover the costs but say they will be adding their own money too by working extra shifts.

Cisco, who Yvonne and Luke said is a 'special' part of their family, pictured before the attack

Yvonne said: "I just automatically broke down and was in disbelief [when the vet told me Cisco had been shot].

"He’s our life, we couldn’t just say no to treatment. We’re not a very wealthy family at all, I just asked the vet if we could come to some sort of arrangement. [He] helped us out money wise because we just haven’t got it.”

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Cisco, who is normally kept inside at night, is believed to have been attacked after escaping while the bins were being taken out.

Luke added: “I was in the back garden shouting him but had no luck. Then 30 minutes later he turned up on the back garden.

"We didn’t know he’d been shot at that point. We could just see blood all over him but not where it was coming from, it could have been glass in his paw or anything… obviously it turned out to be much worse.”

The team at Vets4Pets at Chesterfield Ravenside operated on the young cat after the pellet pierced his abdomen, intestine, spleen and lower bowel – but it is lodged in his spine making it too dangerous to remove.

Cisco is one of three cats that Yvonne and Luke rescued following the death of their son and brother Chris Henchliffe – who died after an altercation outside the town’s Pomegranate Theatre in summer 2016 – and means everything to the pair.

Yvonne said: "We were a very empty household. We rescued one cat and the laughter and enjoyment it brought back into house, after that we just rescued two more. It filled such a void and they’ve become so special to our family.”

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