A DOG owner has been left devastated after his 14-year-old beloved pet was mauled to death by three other dogs.

Vincent Goodwin, 38, of Ramleaze, tried in vain to save the life of his Yorkshire terrier, Rusty, on Saturday morning after it was attacked by three Staffordshire bull terriers who were being walked by a woman outside his house.

Unfortunately, the dog, who had hearing and sight loss, suffered stomach wounds and later died from his injuries after police took him to Shaw vets.

Vincent, a maintenance engineer, has not been back to work since the incident four days ago, and is urging dog owners to be careful.

“My dog just didn’t stand a chance,” he said. “He is 14 and had slowed up a bit and he probably couldn’t see the other dog.

“The dogs just started on him and I couldn’t get my hands on him. I keep going over it in my head and I haven’t been back to work since, every day gets a bit harder. It was a complete nightmare.”

The incident happened at 9am on Saturday as Vincent was leaving his house with Rusty.

As Rusty walked from the porch to the end of the drive, a Staffy being walked by a woman with two other dogs outside the house, ran and attacked Rusty. Vincent believes the dog was not on a lead.

While Vincent began screaming for help, the two other dogs also began attacking Rusty.

Vincent is now warning dog owners to be vigilant.

“I don’t want Rusty to just be another statistic,” he said.

“I know nothing will bring my dog back and that is heart-breaking, but I feel I have got to do something about it.

“To me, this wasn’t just a normal dog attack, it was savage. I haven’t got anything against this particular type of dog, but I think owners need to be more careful. Why wasn’t this dog on a lead?

“I know it isn’t a person, but something has lost its life here and you don’t know what it is like until you are in that situation. I had Rusty since he was a puppy back in 1997 and he was a brilliant dog.

“I mollycoddled him but I couldn’t help it.

“He did everything, he came away with me wherever I went and he wouldn’t have hurt a fly.”

.A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: “We are currently investigating this incident and inquiries are on-going at this stage.

“We took statements at the time of the attack and continue to make enquiries in relation to the dogs involved.

“We will also be liaising with the local authority as part of our inquiries.”