Marley the cat shot by air rifle in Knoxfield

A BELOVED pet cat is recovering after being shot with an air rifle in Knoxfield, leaving the pellet lodged in its head.

Marley the cat was shot in the head with an air rifle. Picture: Facebook

A BELOVED pet cat is recovering after being shot in the head with an air rifle in Knoxfield, in an incident described as “extremely shocking”.

Marley, the two-year-old feline, had a pellet lodged directly between his eyes on the morning of Saturday, September 30.

He was taken to a vet, where the pellet was removed, and is now being nursed back to health.

Police are investigating and warn the shooter could face up to two years jail or a $77,000 fine if found guilty of aggravated cruelty to an animal.

Olivia Petrovic, who looks after Marley with her housemate Eleni Harizanou, said she was terrified to find Marley had been shot.

The shooting is believed to have occurred near their house in Rickards Ave.

Ms Petrovic said they were away on Friday, September 29, and the next day Ms Harizanou’s mother let Marley out during the day and locked him back inside the house at night.

On the Sunday morning, Ms Petrovic said she noticed Marley acting strangely.

“He was quite scared, he was very timid, he wasn’t doing much,” she said.

“We took him to the vet, we didn’t really know what was wrong with his head but it looked quite serious. The vet told us it was a pellet.”

An Xray showing the pellet lodged in Marley’s head. Picture: Facebook

Ms Petrovic said Marley narrowly avoided surgery because the pellet had not penetrated the skull.

“Fortunately he was OK,” she said.

“He’s happy, he’s all good now. There was a hole left in his forehead, but that’s healed by itself.”

“At first it was extremely shocking (the shooting) — we couldn’t understand why anyone would do that. We were initially scared to let him outside again. Now we’re just moving on, trying to forget about it.”

Knox Senior Constable Callum Scott said the incident was concerning.

“It has happened before where cats have been shot, it’s not something that happens all the time,” he said.

“We take it really seriously.”

Sen-Constable Scott said anyone who saw suspicious behaviour in the area was urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.