Kokova Magazine

Following the report of the shooting of a pet dog on Seaham Beach yesterday (25th July 2013), we took a closer look into this horrifying form of attack on our pets to see how widespread the problem is becoming.

And we are shocked at the results...there were 799 incidents air rifle attacks reported to the RSPCA in 2012.

Jasper, a friendly 1 year old spaniel appears to have been shot while out for a walk on Seaham beach (County Durham) yesterday morning, in broad daylight and whilst accompanied by his owners.

We spoke to Wendy Rowntree, veterinary surgeon at the King's Road Veterinary Practice in Southwick, who is greatly concerned by the attack.

"Unfortunately, we are used to seeing this type of injury to birds and cats but not dogs" - Wendy Rowntree

Jasper's owners thinks the gunshot came from the cliffs above the beach. His injuries are reported to be relatively minor and he should make a full recovery but it could have been so much worse.

The 2012 air rifle attacks reported for 2012 show an an increase of 40 compared to 2011. BUT shocking figures show that for the first six months of 2013, 438 reports had already been received.

This indicates that the overall figure for 2013 is set to increase again as the majority of air weapon attacks happen in the summer months - with an average of 60 reports received by the RSPCA each month between April and August in 2012.

The majority of the reports involved wild birds, with cats being the second most targeted animal - and now it would seem that our dogs may also be under attack.

Among the cats who were shot were Lady Guinevere, a cat from Finchley, whose foot was shattered by an air weapon pellet and Theo, a five-year-old black cat from Paignton who was shot in the abdomen.

Herbie, a 13-year-old cat from Harlow was shot in the eye. It was only when Herbie's owner took him to the vet that he found out his pet had been shot. Herbie's eye had to be removed.

Some cats did not survive including Muffin, a seven-year-old cat from Claygate whose owners were devastated when she had to be put to sleep after being shot in her spine.

Although cats are by far the most targeted domestic animal, a little dog named Millie was shot by an air rifle in Harlow and was left with only one kidney.

Wild birds attacked included two gulls which died after being enticed with pieces of bread before being shot at close range in Barrow-in-Furness. A third gull was badly injured but went on to survive and was released after the RSPCA sought veterinary treatment for it.

Cats and wildlife are often the target of air rifle attacks, simply because they are out in the open with no one to protect them. The injuries caused by such attacks are horrific and often fatal. These attacks are often deliberate by people who just don't care about hurting animals or are deliberately targeting animals to keep them away from gardens. Whoever carries out these attacks needs to understand that they are illegal and you face up to six months in prison if caught. The fact that we have received almost 800 reports of injured animals is deeply worrying and shows we still need to keep up our work to stop such attacks.

James Yeates, chief veterinary officer at RSPCA

The RSPCA believes that a great many reports of animals shot with air weapons go unreported, often because owners just aren't aware that injuries have been caused in this way or because the animals aren't found.

The RSPCA is calling for tighter controls with better education and explanation of the law when buying an air gun and that everyone must receive basic safety training before being allowed to walk out of the shop.

The law and air rifles: -

• It is illegal to shoot at and cause unnecessary suffering to any domestic animal with an air weapon
• It is an offence to have an air weapon in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse
• Anyone in possession of an air weapon on land where they do not have permission commits the serious criminal offence of armed trespass
• No one aged under 18 can buy an air weapon or ammunition
• Young people aged 14 to 17 can only shoot unsupervised on private land where they have permission
• It is an offence if someone fails to take reasonable precautions to prevent under-18s from gaining unauthorised access to an air weapon
• It is only legal to shoot air weapons on land where permission has been granted. All wild birds are fully protected by law and only named pest species may be shot - and then only under the terms of general licences, issued annually by local authorities in the UK
• It is an offence for people to fire a pellet from an air weapon beyond the boundaries of the land where they have permission to shoot. This would include firing a pellet beyond the boundaries of a garden

To report an incident of suspected animal cruelty the phone 0300 1234999. To help support the RSPCA's work then please visit www.rspca.org.uk