A family in Sittingbourne have been left devastated after their pet dog was savagely torn apart by a pair of vicious hounds.

Dianne Caryl and her son Thomas were walking their beloved chihuahua Frankie in Milton Creek Country Park when he was set upon by bull mastiffs being walked without a leash.

“My son tried to pick the dog up but the mastiffs grabbed her and pulled her back down,” she said.

“They were totally out of control. They chased her until they caught her and basically savaged her.

“Imagine if that was a child - he had no control over those dogs and it could have been a lot worse for someone else.”

Ms Caryl, who lives in Milton Regis, said the owner of the dogs tried to separate the animals by cowering over the chihuahua.

“He was petrified and was even punching his own dogs to keep them away, it was absolute chaos.”

Once the marauding mongrels moved away, the 58-year-old rushed her wounded pet to a vet where it needed extensive surgery.

“They originally thought it was a spinal injury because she couldn’t walk but when the vet took her in they found she had been bitten right through her abdomen and had internal bleeding,” she said.

An operation to save the seven-year-old chihuahua’s life was successful, but the dog later died from a suspected heart attack while recovering.

Adding more misery to the grieving mum-of-three, she now faces a substantial medical bill running into the thousands for the emergency treatment Frankie received.

The attack happened at around 3pm on Monday when the man was walking a total of four dogs, none of which were on a leash.

"Imagine if that was a child - he had no control over those dogs and it could have been a lot worse for someone else" - Dianne Caryl

Ms Caryl has launched an appeal on Facebook to find the owner of the mastiffs said she had made several attempts to contact him, but he has failed to answer.

She called for stricter regulations for uncontrollable pets and warned others to be vigilant.

Police and council authorities are able to demand owners take action to prevent a dog attack on people thanks to changes made to the Dangerous Dogs Act last year.

However, according to the RSPCA, the legislation does not cover attacks on other animals but the charity encourages people to report them to the police.

“I wish they had bitten me because then we’d have a case, we’re heartbroken,” added Ms Caryl.