Farmer John Blackwell has branded an air rifle attack on his cow which had just calved as "wicked".

The cow nearly bled to death after she was shot through an artery in a field on the edge of Charlbury.

The attack is the latest in a series on animals in the town and police are appealing for information.

Mr Blackwell, of Dean, near Chipping Norton, said: "She had a three-day-old calf with her. She was fine at 8am when we checked her but a neighbour alerted me about 3.30pm.

She was bleeding badly but we managed to staunch it and a vet gave her some injections to congeal the blood.

She's 12 years old and a lovely cow, my grandchildren have even hand-milked her. I can't work out how someone picked on her and don't know how anyone could do such a wicked thing. It's not the value of the cow but the principle of the thing." Vet Peter Alymer, of The Veterinary Hospital in Chipping Norton, treated the cow.

He said: "I found the cow down and bleeding profusely from a very small wound in the base of its neck. I am not 100 per cent certain it was from a shot but I can not think of anything else which would go in so far.

"Luckily the cow is still alive but if it had died then I was prepared to do an autopsy to see what caused the injury," he said.

Charlbury's community policeman Pc Simon Towers is investigating the attacks which have happened over the last few months.

They include a fatal attack on a barn owl, a cat which managed to struggle home and has since recovered and a Labrador which died on the operating table.

Pc Towers said: "These attacks are despicable. We think an air rifle is being used and they can kill or cause serious injuries to animals. If people see anyone with an air rifle in the town then we want them to tell us so we can check it out."

Pc Towers can be contacted on 01865 266762.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.