Kylie Richards and her daughter, Paige Grew, 7, returned home last Friday to find three powerful dogs in the throes of a frenzied attack on their little Jack Russell.

Without a thought for her own safety, Miss Richards instinctively rushed towards the bloodthirsty dogs – screaming at them to stop – in an attempt to save the defenceless pet from its attackers.

But despite managing to scare one dog off and tie up two others, the four-year-old pet, named Jessie, had already suffered mortal wounds.

The distraught family then discovered their second dog – a bull mastiff called Chomp, owned by Miss Richards’ fiance, Chris Grew – had also been killed while chained up.

Miss Richards, 31, of Goran St, Curlewis, said Paige had been crying herself to sleep in the days since the traumatic incident. 

“She’s upset – very upset. She’s had Jessie since Jessie was a pup and she used to ride Chomp around the backyard like he was a horse,” she said. “I think it will put a scar on her for a long time, actually.”

Staff from Gunnedah Shire Council were called in to take custody of the three offending dogs and remove the pet carcasses. Miss Richards said Curlewis residents were fed up with dangerous dogs roaming the town’s streets and called upon the council and police to crack down on irresponsible owners.

“I would like council to be around here a bit more to get the strays off the street, and I think they should do something about these stupid dogs that kill things. I want to see these dogs put down. If they’re not put down and they’re free to go and do this to someone else’s animal or even a child, it wouldn’t be very nice at all,” she said.