A family was devastated when their pet cat was killed after being shot with an air rifle as he lay outside the family home.

The Ansell family from Tullow in Carlow were left distraught when ‘Tom’ was shot three times outside their house on June 25.

Tom was found outside the family home by Jack, 11, and Vijay, seven, who told their mother Carolynn that he seemed unable to walk, the Irish Mirror reported.

The family immediately rushed Tom to the vet, believing that he had suffered a stroke.

Vijay, 7, and Jack, 11, with Tom

However, they later found that Tom had three metal pellets lodged inside him, which showed up during a scan.

After being told that Tom would never walk again and would have been in pain, it was decided to let him pass away peacefully under anaesthetic.

Carolynn’s mother Jane Kelly, who helps run the Carlow Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, initially rescued Tom before giving him to her grandchildren and says that the family is devastated.

Ray shows pellets lodged in Tom’s spine

She said: “I rescued him six years ago, he had been hit by a car and his owners never brought him to the vet.

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“His leg was broken, it was downright cruelty. I took him to a vet and got him fixed up. I decided to keep him and give him to my grandkids, they had him for six years and they loved him.

“We couldn’t save him, the bullet was lodged in his spine, the damage was done. We let him go under general anaesthetic, there was no pain.”

She added: “We had a wake at my house, I think it gave the children a chance to understand death at a very young age.

Vijay says goodbye to his beloved pet