CAT lovers in Gwaun cae Gurwen are on the lookout for an air rifle-toting sadist after six pets were shot in the past 18 months.

Troy, a 10-month-old ginger tom, is the latest victim.

His horrified owners discovering an airgun pellet embedded in his head.

“My wife picked him up thinking he had an abcess and found the pellet,”

owner Nigel Palk, of Derwydd Avenue, told the Guardian. “He’s the sixth cat to be shot in this street in the past 18 months – we’ve already lost two ourselves.

“At first we thought Troy had been in a fight. It’s terrible to find out hewas shot.

“What angers us is that whoever’s responsible will probably only get a tellingoff if they’re found – I know what I’d like to do to them if I can.

“It was probably an airgun fired from a garden – unfortunately police have to prove the pellet matches the gun.”

Neighbour Louise Porter, whose own cat Tasha was targeted last year, said pet owners were living in fear.

“Where does it stop?” she asked. “This is ridiculous. I have six cats now and it’s very rarewelet them go out at all.

“Iamoutraged that there is nothing we can do about it. We tell the police and highlight the issue in the papers, but nothing really happens, does it?

“I can see why people might take things into their own hands, there is only so much one person will take.”