IPSWICH: A beautician who suffered “nasty” bite wounds to her hands when she tried to rescue her cat from the jaws of a hunting dog has today spoken about the horrific attack.

Michelle Henry, 25, said she was in so much pain after the dog turned on her that she thought she had lost a finger.

Miss Henry described how the dog dragged the beloved family cat, Kizzy, from the front garden into a neighbour’s garden and started to attack it.

“My initial thought was I have to rescue Kizzy,” she said.

The dog then turned on her and began biting her fingers and scratching her arms.

She added: “I was in so much pain that I thought I had lost my finger. I honestly could not look at my hand.”

Ipswich Crown Court was told yesterday that Miss Henry needed hospital treatment and her job as a beautician was put at risk as a result of the attack.

Sadly the cat was unable to recover and died as a result of her injuries.

Dog owner Nicola Davis, 37, of Ann Street, Ipswich, admitted allowing her dog to enter a private garden in Meadowvale Close and cause injury to Miss Henry on February 4.

Prosecutor Robert Sadd told how the horrific incident happened on February 4 when Davis was walking her pointer without a lead in the park next to Meadowvale Close, Ipswich.

Judge Peter Thompson said he was satisfied the dog wasn’t a danger to public safety and did not need to be destroyed.

Davis was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay �400 compensation to Miss Henry and �100 court costs.

The judge said he said he had seen pictures of Miss Henry’s injuries and described them as “nasty”.

However, he said the dog hadn’t been aggressive to anyone in the past and he had read letters from people who were happy for it to be around their children.

Davis’ lawyer, Tariq Khawam said the dog’s interest had been in the cat and not Miss Henry.

He said Davis was appalled at what had happened. She said that immediately after the incident she had bought a muzzle for the dog, which was a family pet, and no longer walked in the Meadowvale Close area because she didn’t want to cause distress to Miss Henry.

Mr Khawam added that Davis, a mother of two with no previous convictions, is a “responsible person and this was a one-off situation”.

Last week the Star featured the story of Karen Cook whose cat was also mauled to death by a dog at her Ipswich home.

n Have you faced a similar situation? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or you can send an e-mail to eveningstar letters@eveningstar.co.uk