Carianne Woodward says her pet, Koffey was savaged by a lurcher dog which burst into the front garden of their home.
Once inside the 37-year-old’s property, Carianne says the large dog attacked her 18-month-old cat in front of her and her 11-year-old son, Joseph Woodward.
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| RIP Koffey |
And despite the full-time mum-of-five shouting and hitting the dog, it carried on shaking Koffey around like a “rag doll”, and only stopped when its owner came to get it before running off.
Within minutes of the attack ending, Koffey, whose back legs were severely damaged in the incident, died in agonising pain. Carianne believes this was not a random attack.
And she wanted to warn other animal owners about the incident in the hope that publicising it might prevent it from happening to any more “innocent and loved family pets”.
She said: “I was shaking and in hysterics and beside myself with shock really, so was Joseph.
“She was really badly injured, her back legs weren’t working and then she didn’t last much longer after that.
“Why would you walk along the street with a lurcher off its lead when you know that if it sees a little animal like a cat it’ll go for it?
“That’s what they’re trained for, they’re hunting dogs, it’s obvious. And for the owner to just run off after what his dog had just done, it’s appalling.”
Carianne says she was preparing tea when she heard the commotion outside her house in Chaucer Avenue.
Her and her son Joseph opened the door and saw the attack.
“I’ve rang the police, but they say there’s nothing they can do because a dog killing a cat is not a criminal offence,” said Carianne, who is also mum to Jake, 18, Lewis, 15, three-year-old Ashton, and William, one.
“The more I’ve spoken to people about what happened to Koffey, the more I’ve heard people saying the same thing has happened to them and I think it’s terrible.
“It’s hard enough for me to deal with what I’ve seen, never mind a child. I don’t think it registers with these people that these are loved pets.”
A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police confirmed that officers are investigating and appealed for anyone with any information about the incident, which happened around 5pm on Sunday, to telephone officers on 101.
(Hartlepool Mail - Dec 19, 2012)
