A PET owner told of her distress today after her cat was mauled to death by an unleashed greyhound.Phyllis Hollobone, from Tasmania Road in Rushmere St Andrew, was stunned to find out that fifteen-year-old, Smokey, had died in such a violent manner.

A PET owner told of her distress today after her cat was mauled to death by an unleashed greyhound.

Phyllis Hollobone, from Tasmania Road in Rushmere St Andrew, was stunned to find out that fifteen-year-old, Smokey, had died in such a violent manner.

Her neighbour Les Jeffery discovered the cat while cycling home from work. Smokey had been so badly savaged that Mr Jeffery was unable to establish whether or not it was his own cat.

He said: “When I saw it, all I could think was 'oh God, not ours'”. He later realised the cat belonged to his neighbour, who was in her garden at the time.

Mrs Hollobone said: “I heard shouting and went inside to the front window. I saw Les come running round the corner with the cat in his arms.”

Mr Jeffery said he was concerned over the number of dog owners who allow their pets on to the nearby heath without any form of restraint. He felt that the incident highlighted a growing problem in the area.

Pc John Trott, Suffolk police's wildlife liaison officer, said: “An awful lot of dog owners walk their dogs on the heath but this is the first incident of its kind that I'm aware of.”

He agreed that such an incident can be extremely upsetting for those involved but stressed that it was a civil matter.

He said: “It is in a dog's nature to chase cats. We could no sooner charge the owner of the dog as we could a cat owner whose pet killed a bird.”

The owner of the retired racing greyhounds, Stephen Carter claimed that the dogs did not require muzzles while on the heath.

Mr Carter, 51, said: “This is the first time anything like this has happened. The dog must have seen the cat and thought it was a rabbit. I tried to stop it but I'm disabled and have to use a walking stick.”

He went on to say that he had been asked on numerous occasions to actively encourage the dogs to chase rabbits on the heath.

He said: “Golfers have asked me to get the dogs to catch rabbits because they dig up the greens”.

Mr Carter expressed his regret that the incident had occurred and sent his apologies to Mrs Hollobone.