A pensioner has spoken of her terrifying ordeal after her pet was attacked by a “fighting type dog”.

Sofie Saban, from Gravesend, was walking her yorkie chihuahua cross, Pepe, across Mark Lane, Gravesend, to the park, when she saw two large dogs off their leads.

The 60-year-old opened the gate to the children’s park to keep Pepe safe, but one of the dogs caught him between his teeth and started to shake him, before throwing him against a railing.

Ms Saban said it was terrifying: “I was just so shocked to see dogs like that off a lead. They must have been a cross between a mastiff and a staff.

“I’m five foot two and they came up to my waist; they were fighting-type dogs.

“He pushed his way in. It happened so quickly. I was screaming ‘it’s got my dog, come and get your dog’.

"They need to be found before a child gets killed" - Sofie Saban

“I pulled his collar back and he slung my dog against the railings. I was covered in blood, the dogs were covered in blood. My nail had been pulled out from my hand.”

Once Pepe was free, the dog’s owner came into the park. She says he told Miss Saban to put a lead on her dog, but said he did not have one for his own.

She said: “He just took the dog and walked off, almost like a swagger.”

Pepe suffered a cut below his eye and his right side was covered in bruises from where he was thrown against the railing, but he is starting to recover.

Miss Saban said: “It could have been a child coming out of that gate. They need to be found before a child gets killed.

“They look dangerous and they are dangerous.”

It happened on September 5, but Ms Saban decided to come forward after she read about the attack on Tom Clubb’s dog Cassie last week.

The 10-year-old collie cross was left with severe facial injuries after she was attacked by a bull mastiff in Chalk Road.

A dog attacking another dog is not a criminal offence. However, it is the owner’s legal responsibility to keep control of their pets if they are a danger to the public.

A police spokeswoman said of the incidents: “Officers carried out inquiries after receiving a report that a dog was out of control in Waterton Avenue, Gravesend, on September 5, but the officers were unable to identify the dog and its owner.

“Inquiries into the incident reported on September 29, are ongoing.”