A DOG owner has described the moment her pet was attacked by two dogs who tore a chunk from his side as they walked by the River Weaver.

Jennifer Wright is urging fellow animal lovers to keep their dogs under control after the incident, which happened on the Hartford bank of the Weaver, near the bottom of Saxons Lane.

She was walking her eight-year-old lurcher Bertie when he was set upon by two Alsatians.

"They were off their leads and came hurtling down the path from the wooded area, he was at the bottom, and they went for him and took a lump out of his side," she said.

"He runs very fast but the other dogs ran after him and he was screaming.

"He had at least a four-inch round patch on his side where the skin and fur had gone, it was torn off and a real mess.

"It's cost £900 in vets bills, luckily covered by insurance, but he's going to be traumatised for quite a long time, if not forever."

The attack happened at 3.30pm on Sunday, January 4.

Jennifer, of London Road, took Bertie to Ark Vets, in Kingsmead, where an emergency vet patched him up.

"I can't walk him now and it's an ongoing thing taking him to the vets and all the different pills and creams I have to use for him," she said.

"If it had been a small dog it would have been dead.

"If it had been a child they might not have been bitten but the Alsatians came hurtling down the hill, they would have injured a child.

"I feel that it's so important to let people know that they have got to be more responsible with these big dogs."