A dad-of-three who witnessed his family's cat being mauled to death by a dog in his driveway has recalled the traumatic incident.

Dave Flahaut was himself injured as he tried to wrench his beloved moggie from the dog's jaws but the little tortoiseshell tragically died in the attack.

Police are now investigating after the dog's walker left the scene "without saying anything".

Mr Flahaut had been at home in Russell Drive, Whitstable, just after 7am last Thursday when he heard a commotion outside and went to investigate.

"I heard shouting and went out thinking someone's in trouble," said the 33-year-old.

But he instead found a dog – which was being walked on a leash by a woman – mauling his family pet.

"I saw the dog attacking the cat and tried to stop it," said Mr Flahaut. "In the process I got a couple of puncture wounds on my fingers.

"I got the cat out of the dog's mouth. It had killed my cat. The woman then just put a muzzle on it and walked away without saying anything."

Mr Flahaut and his wife adopted the cat, named Willow, about eight years ago.

"We've had her since she was a kitten, when she was about four weeks old," he said. "She was found in a shed with her brothers and sisters."

Mr Flahaut says his children are sad at having lost their pet but are luckily too young to understand how she died.

"They know the cat's gone to heaven, but I tried to keep all the details and to keep her away from them," he said.

The police are now investigating and Mr Flahaut hopes the dog's owner will be found.

"The woman didn't have control of the dog," he said. "It came onto my drive by about six or seven feet. It got the cat then went onto the grass verge outside the house."

Mr Flahaut, who has three sons aged six and below, says he is worried the dog could injure another animal or even a child.

"There are lots of small kids in our road now and this could have been any of them," said the mechanic. "And there are lots of little pets too.

"That's my biggest concern. We want other people to be kept safe, including the owner of the dog."

Mr Flahaut, who needed a course of antibiotics for his wounds, describes the dog walker's reaction to his cat's death as "not very human".

"If something had done that to her dog, I can't see she'd have been quiet about it," he said.

He is frustrated by the fact the woman had a muzzle with her but had not used it on the dog, which he believes may have been a lurcher.

"If she's got a muzzle with her she knows it's got a bit of a temperament," he said.

"Maybe it needs to go to someone who can control its behaviour."

Mr Flahaut has been out cycling every morning to see if he can spot the woman walking the dog and has circulated stills from CCTV footage on social media.

He has passed CCTV to police, who are investigating.

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