A PET dog had to have an ear amputated after it was savaged by another dog.

Bella, a nine-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, was being taken on a walk by owner Elaine Ellis in Redwing Drive, Bradwell, when the attack happened.

Mrs Ellis, of Whinchat Way, said: “On Friday morning I was taking my three year old grand-daughter Maisie in her pushchair, and brindle-coated Bella, for a walk.

“We had only been walking for two minutes when I noticed a bull terrier loose and running around. It saw us and came running up to Bella, who raised her tail to say hello, and it just opened its mouth and grabbed her head.”

Mrs Ellis said she began screaming and shouting at the bull terrier, but it wouldn’t let go.

“Bella growled back and then started whining and crying in pain, but a man turned up and hit the dog hard on its head until it let go and held it until its owners came and got it.

“I could hardly get my breath, I was in shock.”

Maisie, who had been screaming and crying at the attack next to her pushchair, was taken into one of the resident’s nearby houses – as her grandmother stood covered in the blood of her beloved Bella.

Mrs Ellis continued: “She phoned the vets for me while another woman called the police – then another lady got me a bowl of water to wash my hands which were covered in blood.”

“I just can’t thank them all enough for what they have done for me, Maisie and Bella,” she added.

Bella was rushed to the vets where they amputated her ear and she is now recovering well. The owners of the bull terrier have agreed to pay the Ellis’ vets bills.

Mrs Ellis said: “It was Bella’s left ear; it looks like she has a hole in her head, bless her.”