A FIVE-day-old donkey foal is fighting for her life after being attacked by a dog.

The tiny animal, pictured, from a farm in Bramshaw was discovered with teeth marks in its neck and needed emergency treatment from a vet following the attack.

Donkey owner Ray Bennet found the foal after days of searching for the animal's pregnant mother, called Nanny, who had disappeared to give birth.

Joining Mr Bennet in the search for the animal was his ex-wife Sheena Rees who said the foal was barely alive when they found her on Tuesday morning.

"We had been looking for Nanny for several days because she was pregnant and the weather had been pretty bad," she said.

"They go off and have their babies in secret.

"We were not expecting this to happen," she added.

Sheena described how Mr Bennet found the young offspring on Sturtmoor Common.

"It was horrible, the foal had teeth marks on her neck and she had fly-strike and was crawling with thousands of maggots. She was barely alive.

"I think it will be a miracle if she lives," she added.

The donkey owners are now facing hundreds of pounds in vet's bills to keep the foal alive as she is nursed in a stable.

The vet treating the foal told Sheena that a dog had carried out the attack and she is now urging all dog owners to keep their pets under tighter control out in the countryside.

"I'd never heard of a donkey being attacked before by a dog but the vet had no doubt it was a dog that did it," she said.