AN Ebbw Vale woman is heartbroken after two of her beloved family cats were shot and later died.

Kelly O'Leary, 47, of Glanfrwyd Avenue, says ball-bearing guns were fired at the animals. Ms O'Leary says the culprits are also targeting other animals and even people in her street.

Charlie, her 15-year-old cat, was shot three times. One shattered its shoulder bone and Charlie died weeks later.

The postwoman's kitten Angel was only a few weeks old when it was shot in an allotment a few weeks ago. Ms O'Leary and her daughter Emma spent all night nursing Angel but it died in the early hours of the morning.

"We have allotments in our back gardens and he always played out there," said Ms O'Leary. "For the past few months we can hear the guns being fired all day.

"When he was shot, the vet told us it must have been at point blank range, which upsets me because he was such a friendly cat. Whoever did it looked him in the eyes first."

She added: "I bought Angel as a present for my daughter who was coming home after living in France.

"She only got to have her for a couple of weeks when one day she jumped over the fence towards me and just fell - someone had shot at her while she was in the air and hit her in the groin.

"What happened destroyed us, we are animal lovers and our cats are like family to us," she said.

Ms O'Leary said there are often dead birds in the gardens and added that other residents' cats have also been shot at.

"My cat Layla will not go into the allotments now and I am glad because I am terrified of the same thing happening to her. I know not everyone likes cats, but I do, and it is no excuse to shoot them.

"Charlie was well-known and the primary children used to walk past on their way to swimming lessons and play with him. I think that these guns should require a licence. They are not just used as toys and could seriously hurt someone."

Nobody at the council was available for comment.