The hunt is on to find the callous person who shot and killed a cat with an air rifle in Kingsbury.

Briony Flynn is appealing for information to catch the culprit who is believed to have targeted Smudge near their home in Glenwood Grove.

The 17-year-old sustained such serious injuries from the shooting on January 8 she had to be put to sleep.

Ms Flynn told the Times her family have been left devastated by her death.

She said: “Smudge has been part of our family for 17 years and we are absolutely devastated that someone could harm an innocent cat in such a callous and malicious way. It’s very, very cruel.”

The family were first alerted to Smudge’s plight when she came home at 9pm, a few hours later than normal.

Ms Flynn said: “She managed to somehow drag herself home and it was clear something was wrong with her back leg. We thought she’d been attacked by a fox but when we took her to the vet he told us she had been shot with an air rifle.

“The pellet had shattered the bone in her leg and severed her nerves so her leg would need to be amputated, but the vet did not think she’d survive the operation so we were forced to make the heart breaking decision to have her put to sleep.”

Making an appeal to anyone with information, Ms Flynn said: “No one should be allowed to away with killing an innocent animal like this,

“To think someone living in close proximity to us could be so cruel is just horrendous.

“I hope someone will come forward and help us catch this person.”

Anyone with information should call Brent Police on 1010 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.