by Emma Grove
A great granddad has spoken about the terrifying moment he was set upon and mauled by three snarling, ferocious dogs.

Tom Powell managed to rescue his Yorkshire terrier Sally by scooping her up and away from the animals before telling her to run home.

The 82-year-old was walking his beloved pet by garages in Moat Way, Queenborough, when he was attacked by the dogs.

He picked up frightened Sally and put her over his shoulders when the hounds came tearing around the corner.

“I expected to see the owner but they just flew at me,” he said.
“I tried to fight them off but they grabbed my coat and started pulling me to the ground.

“It seemed like it went on for hours and I thought it was my lot. I really thought they were going to finish me off, it was very scary.
“If I hadn’t had a thick coat on they would have ripped me to pieces.”

As he was dragged to the floor, Mr Powell said he unchained Sally’s lead, threw her to the ground and told her to run home to nearby Yevele Close, which she did.

But as soon as the mutts realised she had gone, they left Mr Powell and set off after her.

Sally, a Yorkshire Terrier-cross, was mauled by three mastiffs

Waiting at home was Mr Powell’s wife Doreen, 79, who says she had been getting worried about what was taking her husband so long.

As she looked out the window for him, she saw a neighbour running across the road with Sally in her arms.

She had picked the pooch up as she was being chased by the other dogs.

Tom Powell's injuries after an attack by three mastiffs

The woman ran to a neighbour’s house and Mrs Powell went out there and tried to fend the dogs off with a mop.

She said: “I heard the commotion of the dogs growling and barking – then the site of them frightened the life out of me.

“It was terrible. I have never seen anything like it – they were like a pack of wolves the way they tore around.

“I hit them with the mop which was covered in water but they kept coming back for more – they were just not going to stop.”

Mr Powell and the neighbour both had to have hospital treatment for bites and Sally spent the night at the vet after the incident, which happened at about 10.30am last Tuesday.