A heartbroken cat-owner is calling for tighter dog controls after her beloved pet was savaged to death by a pair of killer dogs.

Mary Silcock, 76, was left in shock after the hounds attacked her cat Sauvé near her home in Middleton Grove, Holloway, on Saturday.

The feline was left with terrible injuries, and after a visit to the vet and the animal hospital Mrs Silcock had to make the devastating decision to have him put down – and she wants other pet owners to avoid the same fate

“I want to highlight this for other people, I’ve been so very upset about it.

“Sauvé stays on his own territory and doesn’t go too far.

“On this day he had gone a bit further, and he must have ran up a tree and maybe he fell out.

“But there was this terrible screaming.

“These two big dogs had gone for the cat and badly wounded it.

“I heard the kerfuffle and came outside and saw him. We took him to the vet and then the animal hospital.

“They said it was very serious – his wound was contaminated with gravel. He had a less than 20 per cent chance of survival.

“In the end had to have the animal put down.

“It just all seems so brutal and senseless. It could have been avoided.”

The dogs’ owner had already left by the time she got to the scene.

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“The owner is still running around with the dogs, it’s so unjust,” she said.

“A lot of people have these dogs to make them feel powerful and strong.

“All dogs should be kept on leads, regardless of size. You hear of small dogs attacking too. It’s not the dog’s fault, it’s the owners.”

Sauvé had been part of the family since he was rescued as a stray in France eight years ago – his name means to save in French.

“I just don’t want this to happen to another animal, or heaven forbid a child,” added Mrs Silcock.

A police spokesman confirmed the report of a cat was chased up a tree by two dogs.

He said the cat fell and was savaged by the dogs.

He added that officers would contact the cat’s owner and depending on the outcome of the discussion, may consider further action.

If a dog attacks and kills a cat, no offence has been committed unless a person is put in fear for their own or another’s safety.