A grandma is pleading for help to find two dogs that savaged her pet in front of her. Catherine Stephenson, 73, was walking shih tzu Holly when she says two huskie-type dogs appeared from nowhere and set upon the small animal.
The attack happened on Saltash Road, west Hull, shortly after 7am on Tuesday morning.
Mrs Stephenson said: "The two dogs flew at her. They grabbed her and shook her like a rag doll. One of them had her by the throat and the other by the back end and it was like they were trying to tear her apart. They threw her in the air and it was like a tug of war."
Although she was frightened, Mrs Stephenson tried to get the bigger dogs off Holly. "They had got her off her lead," she said, "so I hit one of them with the lead, but it turned and growled at me and nearly turned on me so I had to leave it. I was screaming and screaming."
She said the attack lasted a few minutes before a neighbour ran out of a house, which seemed to scare the dogs off.
"A man came out and we wrapped Holly in a towel but it was so early there were no vets open," said Mrs Stephenson. "I was cradling her in my arms. When we eventually got her to the vet she examined her and said she had gone."
Mrs Stephenson says she now wants the owner of the dogs to step forward.
"Holly had no chance," she said. "She was so little. She was a lovely dog and to go like that is just wrong. She was so frightened of other dogs. If those dogs can do that to a little dog then they can do it to little kids."
Mrs Stephenson's grandaughter, Cassey, said the loss of Holly, who she'd had for 14 years, had devastated her gran.
She said: "What this has done to my gran is awful. She is very upset. It is shocking what happened and they could have gone for her."
Holly's death comes just weeks after miniature poodle Mitzi was mauled to death in front of its elderly owner by a Japanese Akita. Rita Harrison said she heard people scream after her dog ran onto Costello Playing Fields in Hull. Seconds later she saw the Akita "ripping the dog to shreds" and she shouted for help.
Police were contacted about the latest attack. Anyone with information should call officers on 101.
