A STAFFORDSHIRE bull terrier has been put down on the orders of a court after it savaged another dog and killed a cat.

Magistrates told devastated owner Tracey Wilson she would be fined for every day her pet, Tyson, remained alive after she admitted a charge of failing to keep the dog under control.

New Forest Magistrates’ Court heard how Tyson escaped from Wilson’s home in Abbey Close, Hythe, in November last year.

Dog walker Nicola Shergold went to check the animal’s collar believing it to be a stray – but Tyson launched a vicious attack on her own dog, Harvey.

The court was told how Harvey was cowering and whimpering as Tyson grabbed him by the throat in Beaulieu Road.

Tyson was eventually dragged away after police were called – but Ms Shergold had to take Harvey to the vets for bruising and bite wounds.

At an earlier court hearing, Wilson, 42, had been ordered to keep her pet muzzled in public after it killed a neighbour’s cat.

On that occasion Tyson had found its way into a next door garden and was heard growling before launching the fatal attack.

During the latest case, Wilson made her case for the creature to be kept alive, accusing Ms Shergold of “creating her own situation”

by approaching Tyson with her own dog.

But she wept as magistrates ordered that the pet she had owned for more than two years should be destroyed.

She was also ordered to pay £53 compensation to cover Ms Shergold’s vets bill and £35 court costs.

Speaking after the case, she told the Daily Echo: “I don’t know what happened exactly. He was probably minding his own business when the woman came over.

I thought it was a really harsh decision.

“We had him for two years and he was the loveliest dog.

I suffer from depression and since having him, it had improved.

“Since he’s been gone I’ve felt lost without him. He was just like my best friend.”