Warning: graphic image below

A pensioner whose dog suffered horrific injuries in a mystery incident is warning other pet owners to be wary.

Retired carer Sue Holman had let out her greyhound Tiger and Jack Russell Milly on the green in front of her house in Tennyson Avenue, Canterbury, when she heard one of them yelp loudly.

She said: “It was an awful sound, but it was quite dark and I couldn’t see.

“The dogs both came back in and then I saw the shocking slash right round Tiger’s body. I have never seen anything like it and a neighbour helped me dash her to an emergency vet.

“It was a major operation and he has dozens of stitches but is still very poorly and is also fighting an infection. It is touch and go that he will pull through.”

Mrs Holman, 67, has owned Tiger for seven years after he was retired from racing and says he is a “soppy, good-natured dog”.

She said: “How it happened is a mystery and even the vet wasn’t sure because it didn’t appear to be an attack by any other sort of animal.

“He thought he might have got caught up on something like a wire fence but I have checked the area and there is nothing like that.”

“But it’s also very worrying because there are a lot of pets and children on the estate and they need to be wary.”

Now Mrs Holman is struggling to pay huge vet’s bills of £1,300 for his initial surgery and more costs for his ongoing treatment.

She said: “They have allowed me to pay the main bill in two instalments but now he needs more treatment.

“I just don’t know how I am going to find the money. It is a huge worry for me.”