A cat owner wants stricter rules for possessing air rifles after her cat was shot by an armed thug, narrowly missing her brain.

Seven-year-old Denny lost an eye after the metal pellet penetrated the eyeball. Vets who operated to remove it found that if had it hit Denny a centimetre to one side, she would have been killed.

Owner Laura Riach, 31, of Tordoff Road, Low Moor, Bradford, said: “Air rifles should, at the very least, be licensed if not banned. I don’t see what they do other than being there to hurt or kill someone or something.

“It was horrific. She was a complete mess. Her eye was bulging and black. It was obvious she couldn’t see anything out of it. She didn’t want anything to eat and was still in shock.”

Mrs Riach, a fundraising manager for Macmillan Cancer Support, and her husband Gavin, 41, rushed Denny to Sage Veterinary Clinic, in Salisbury Road, Bradford, where they have spent almost £500 on treatment.

Vet Graham Codd said: “The pellet’s gone through the eye and come to rest just in front of her ear. If it had been fired at a slightly different angle it would have gone straight through her cranium and she wouldn’t have been here. She was in a lot of pain. This was a deliberate attempt to shoot the cat.”

Denny underwent a 45-minute operation, is on painkillers and antibiotics and has to wear a plastic halo around her neck until stitches are removed.

Mr Codd said his clinic treated about four pets for airgun wounds every year.

He said: “It’s amazing that there are not more airgun injuries involving people. The law should be tightened on air rifles to better regulate who owns one and what they want to use it for, particularly in urban areas.”

Last month a one-year-old Beagle in Horton Bank Top was shot twice with an air rifle and in November an Eccleshill cat had its intestines perforated in four places by an airgun pellet.

Leanne Plumtree, regional spokesman for the RSPCA, said: “Airgun misuse is a very serious problem which causes a great deal of suffering to the animals involved and, as in this case, distress to their owners.”

So far this year the charity has received 13 calls about airgun incidents involving animals in West Yorkshire.

A Bradford South Police spokesman said: “This has clearly been a distressing incident for the owner who has contacted us to report the matter.

“We would appeal to anyone who has information about this or the irresponsible use of air weapons to contact Tong and Wyke Neighbourhood Policing Team on (01274) 376625.”

Under UK law, anyone over the age of 18 can buy an airgun and ammunition.