A Yorkshire terrier was savaged to death when it was attacked by another dog as it walked with its owners in Kearsney Abbey Park.

The terrier, called Chewy, was pinned down by a Staffordshire bull terrier, then crushed between the bigger dog's jaws and repeatedly shaken like a rag doll as it yelped and screamed in front of its horrified owners.

When Mrs Louise Williams went to try and rescue her pet, the bull terrier bit her thumb.

The elderly Yorkie was wrapped round the bull terrier's face screaming and bleeding and Chewy's owners could see one tooth missing and another hanging out but Mrs Williams feared to tackle the bull terrier, called Snow, again in case it attacked her.

The incident at the Dover park ended when the father of the bull terrier's owner repeatedly punched the dog in the face until it dropped its prey.

Mr and Mrs Williams wrapped their pet in a scarf and rushed it to a vets where it was found to have a broken jaw, two teeth missing, broken ribs and ruptured stomach muscles.

Chewy remained at the vets overnight and was collected by his owners the following day. But his condition deteriorated and he suffered a heart attack and died from crush injuries 24 hours after being savaged.

The bull terrier belonged to Debbie Lawson, 31, of Dryden Road, Dover who appeared at Canterbury Crown Court and admitted being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control last October.

She appeared at Canterbury Crown Court and was fined £500 with £600 compensation to Chewy's owners.

Judge Adele Williams ordered the bull terrier to be destroyed, saying she was not satisfied the dog did not present a future danger to public safety.

Sarah Selby, prosecuting, said Ms Lawson had been walking the bull terrier and her other dog, a whippet who was not involved in the attack, in the park and she appeared with a torch during the attack.

Her father and her son also appeared and her father tackled the bull terrier. Both Ms Lawson's dogs were then put on leads and taken away. Ms Lawson gave Mr and Mrs Williams her details before leaving.

Peter Alcock, for Ms Lawson, said she had been very upset about the whole incident and was extremely sorry about the outcome. She called the police straight after the incident and also spoke to a dog warden.

She did try to pull her dog off and after the incident received an upsetting phone call from an unknown caller.