A BELOVED pet cat has been put down after heartless yobs shot it with a BB gun and left it paralysed from the waist down.

Paula Cooper, 41, and her daughter Grace Beard, 17, were horrified to discover their cat Bertie, who had been missing for five days, had been shot several times and was unable to walk.

After taking Bertie to the vets, the family from Leigh were told he had most likely been shot with a BB gun and advised the five-year-old cat should be put down because of the excruciating pain it was in.

Bertie, who had been named after Grace’s late-grandmother’s family cat, stumbled to their home in Kent Avenue, Leigh, on Friday.

Paula and Grace have slammed the “heartless” yobs they believe took their pet from them.

Paula said: “We are devastated, and I know I cannot fix this, but I want whoever did this to feel ashamed of themselves and have the guilt living inside them for life.

“They’ve not only killed our beloved Bertie, but they have also hurt a child’s memory of her nan. He was so healthy, he would have lived a long life.

“It was so scary when we saw him again on Friday, we didn’t understand what was wrong with him and he was so hungry and thirsty too.

“We thought he’d been run over but the vet told us it wasn’t a normal injury; he was a total mess, and he must have been hiding for days after being shot.”

Grace added that losing Bertie felt like losing a part of her family and wants to see whoever hurt him come forward.

“I don’t have much family, it is just me, my mum and the pets,” she said.

“We have two dogs and they are like family to us, they mean the world to me and losing him feels like losing a brother.

“He came from my best friend’s cat and was named after my nan’s cat, in memory of her.

“I want justice and action, I want everyone to know about this and for someone to be capable of coming forward and owning up.”