A dog owner was left heartbroken after seeing her pet fatally injured by two dogs roaming free in West Molesey, just weeks after moving to the area.

The owner, 29, was walking her one-year-old miniature pinscher, Charlie, along Molesey Road near the reservoir when he was attacked by two husky type dogs at about 10.30am on Saturday, November 2.

With no owners in sight, the dogs, which had no collars, leads or muzzles, charged at Charlie and attacked, she said.

She said: “One of the dogs bit him and as soon as I saw that, I shouted at it. I turned to say no first and it started pushing him and would not drop him. As soon as I picked him up, they were jumping at me to get him. He was bleeding and I was desperate to get him to a vet.

“I ran away and they chased me. I went in to a front garden and they still kept going. I had to walk in the road and make a car stop and it was only then they ran off towards Hersham.”

The dog owner also suffered bite marks to her finger, cuts to her lips and bruises and had to have antibiotics for a week and a tetanus injection.

After rushing to Molesey Veterinary Centre, Charlie had surgery to repair his punctured lungs but, due to damage to other internal organs and his brain, which had been starved of oxygen, he died.

She said: “For me the worst injury was the pain and suffering caused by seeing my beloved family companion suffer, bleed in my hands as I was trying to compress his chest to avoid massive bleeding as I was rushing him to the vet.

“He was looking at me, in pain struggling to breathe and his eyes were pleading for help and I felt so helpless.”

The owner has spoken out to warn others of the dangers of dogs not on leads, and to give a message to the owners of the dogs who acted irresponsibly.

She said: “If you were a responsible citizen, you would not have allowed this to happen and I hope that the law continues to evolve to hold people like yourselves accountable by having increasingly serious criminal sentences in place in such instances.

“You thoroughly failed in your duty as a dog owner, and I hope that you have learned from this so that Charlie's death will not have been in vain.”

A Surrey Police spokeswoman said: “Officers investigated the incident and following enquiries, three dogs have been seized and a 39-year-old man has been reported for summons for the offence of allowing a dog to be dangerous or out of control in a public place.”