A FAMILY has been left devastated after their beloved pet was savaged to death during a 10-minute attack by another dog.

Dorothy and Charles Wayman were walking their nine-year-old border terrier Blue in a field near their Willington home on Friday night (January 18) when he was attacked.

The other dog, believed to have been a boxer type dog, ran up to Blue, who was on a lead, and latched its teeth onto his throat.

The couple and their children have been left traumatised after failing to get the dog, which was shaking and dragging Blue around the field, to release him.

When the dog finally let go, the family rushed Blue home and called for a pet ambulance but it was already too late.

The other dog had ripped through Blue’s windpipe and smashed most of the vertebrae in his spine.

Mrs Wayman said: “It was horrific, there was blood everywhere, the snow in the field was stained red.

“The other dog was five or six times bigger than Blue and had a lot of power, my husband was pulled across the field by this dog as he tried to get it off Blue.

“I’m not sure what breed the attacker was but it was the type that is bred for fighting.

“Blue was gorgeous, always happy and making us laugh, everyone who met him loved him instantly.

“He was a big part of our family and we are traumatised by what happened to him.”

The attack occurred at about 11.30pm and Mrs Wayman said they often walked Blue late at night.

The attacking dog was one of four being walked by a woman in the same field, known as Armoury Field.

She gave her details to the Waymans but upon investigation, the police found them to be false.

Mrs Wayman said: “If my dog attacked another dog I would be heartbroken.

“She did not seem that bothered and for her to give false details just shows there must have been something not quite right.

“We are very angry.”

PC Phil Stainthorpe based at Bishop Auckland Police Station appealed for anyone who knows the owner of the attacking dog to contact him on 101.