A YOUNG family has been left too frightened to go outside after being terrorised by a dog in their own home.

Gayle Wordley, of Lucas Road, Parkstone, was playing in her garden on Tuesday afternoon with her three children Harry, eight, and twins Lili and Jack, five, when the animal came wandering down the road towards them.

The dog, described as all white and either a greyhound or a lurcher, began barking at the children, before forcing its way through the side gate into the garden.

Gayle, 28, said: "It then spotted my cat, Bella. She just twitched and that was it, the dog just leapt on her.

"I got all the kids in and shut the door but I had to leave the cat to fend for herself.

"When I opened the door the cat was half dead trying to get in through the cat flap - she just crawled into the hallway and died."

Gayle was so terrified of the dog, which she said was running around the house trying to find a way in, that she dialled 999 and asked police to alert the dog warden.

But she said by the time she received a response, an hour later, the animal had long gone and is now still wandering the streets.

She added: "It's worrying. My youngest son is very jittery now and if the back door is open he doesn't like it.

"The older one is not too bad but he keeps asking if the dog is coming back. I'm angry because if someone had turned up they probably would have got the dog.

"But nobody bothered at all and now we don't know where it's gone."

Andrew Crossen-White, principal officer for Borough of Poole's environmental and consumer protection, said an officer would be visiting to make inquiries but that it was difficult to take action without identifying the dog.

He added: "If identified we can take witness statements and then speak to the owner.

"We can also take action against dogs which have killed cats.

"If we can prove to the courts that the animal was dangerous and out of control, a destruction order or control order can be issued."

First published: September 1