![Little Maxy was savagely attacked by a](/upload/news/2023/08/01/81174.jpg)
A mum is traumatised after her precious dog - a tiny Yorkshire Terrier - was mauled to death by a huge "Pitbull-type" canine inside a shop.
Lynda Warne, 66, said she is inconsolable as her pooch Maxy was the "last little thing" in her life and her "best friend". Lynda, who has recently recovered from breast cancer, was shopping with the little hound when the other dog pounced, and "wouldn't let go for five minutes".
The horror left blood everywhere in the shop in Devonport, Plymouth, where two members of staff were reportedly so traumatised they had to stop working and go home. Police are now investigating the attack.
The pensioner, who is now seeking counselling, told Plymouth Live: "I will just never forget that sight. Maxy, my little boy, didn't stand a chance. This dog just made an aim right for him, he grabbed Maxy and Maxy must've died straight away as he didn't make a noise.
"His eyes were wide open. The Pitbull-type dog didn't let go for five minutes. I was shouting and screaming, 'He's not dead, he's not dead!' but he was."
Lynda, who has one son and has lived in Devonport all her life, added: "Everybody loved Maxy. I'd take Maxy up to Marlborough Street and his tail would be wagging as people would stand around stroking him. All the shops would let me take him in. He was so well loved up there.
"I just can't get my head around it. And I just can't forget that image. The shop was closed for two hours afterwards because there was blood everywhere. I couldn't do anything; I was just screaming, screaming. I keep having flashbacks. I can't stop breaking down, I feel so ill. I keep thinking he's here with me; I keep seeing him on the bed, sleeping. But he has been taken away from me. I just want justice."
The woman got Maxy after the death of her father 12 years ago. She believes her neighbourhood has since been blighted with anti-social behaviour and crime. Now, she "doesn't feel safe at all".
"I am too afraid, and I am afraid of the repercussions now. I do not feel safe at all. It's like Beirut out there," the animal lover, who has been going through radiotherapy treatment for her cancer, continued. "I was born in Devonport 66 years ago and it was a beautiful place back then, but lately it's just terrible. It's just full of drugs, and dangerous dogs. I hope and pray something is done, because next time it will be a child."
A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "Police were called to Marlborough Street in Plymouth at around midday on Saturday 29 July following reports of a dog having killed another dog in the area. Units have attended and reviewed CCTV. Enquiries continue to locate the owner of the dog involved in the attack."