A POOLE woman has been left heartbroken after she returned home to find her cat had been mauled by three dogs.

The black moggy, called Marley, was fatally injured by a German Shepherd, a terrier and a greyhound in Canford Heath. Owner Kate Towner said she received a phone call from her neighbour, who had witnessed the attack near Kate’s home in the vicinity of Verity Park. Two men were with the dogs and failed to intervene until it was too late, she said. They walked off afterwards without apologising, she added.

Kate reported the incident to the police, council dog wardens and the RSPCA. The 41-year-old is hoping someone has information about the men and their dogs so the authorities can take action.

The same dogs are believed to have attacked another cat in the area in January, as well as a dog belonging to one of Kate’s neighbours recently.

“I want people to be careful with their own cats and dogs as I don’t want the same thing happening to anyone else’s pet. This dog could attack a child next. But the owners don’t care. The dogs are always running off their leads around Verity Park,” Kate said.

“Marley was just amazing, I loved him to pieces. He would meet me from the car every day, he was so affectionate. And he was hilarious – I had to put a child lock on the fridge because he managed to open it once and eat some chicken that was inside.

“I was swim training and was just getting changed when my neighbour rang me and said ‘you need to come quickly, Marley has been attacked by three dogs’. I phoned my partner and we rushed over to find Marley paralysed and crying on the ground. He was bleeding from the mouth and one of his legs was badly mangled. It was heartbreaking. Apparently, the dog had had Marley’s head in its mouth too.

“I laid on the ground with him for a while before taking him to the vets. They examined him, and there were no reflexes in his back end, and his leg would have needed amputating. The vet said it was unlikely he’d survive the night, so we had him put down.”

Kate said when she reported the incident to police she was told it was a matter for the dog warden.

Peter Haikin, regulatory services manager at BCP Council, said: “We‘re saddened to hear about the tragic death of the cat under such circumstances, and our thoughts go out to the owner. In our endeavours to investigate reports of dogs attacking other animals, we need as much information as possible regarding the breed of dogs and the likely identity and address of the owner. Without such information it is extremely difficult to identify the culprit, so we would urge anyone who has further information on this attack to contact the dog warden on 01202 261700.”

“I’m not unrealistic and I don’t think anything is going to happen to these guys, even if I did manage to take them to court. However, if anyone has any information about these men, who are white, average height and have dark hair, that would be great,” Kate added.