A DISTRAUGHT cat owner has called for a change in the law after dogs killed her beloved pet.

Darwen woman Lisa Welsh was devastated when her pet cat Honey was severely injured yards from her home by a pack of dogs. The 37-year-old said she heard anguished noises from outside her door.

Lisa and her partner Zoe Moorcroft rushed to help the seven-year-old black cat and found her wounded in the street.

The couple took Honey to an emergency vet but she had been so seriously wounded, they were forced to put her to sleep.

The former Moorland High School pupil said she received a sympathetic response from police, but they said there was little they could do regarding a dog’s attack on a cat.

The pair, who believe Honey was attacked by two lurchers and a terrier, decided to have their pet cremated and keep her ashes at their home on Albert Street.

Lisa said she was shocked her unadventurous pet was attacked in such a savage manner. The social services worker said: “Honey never went very far. She would just sit outside the house or wander a little way around the back.

“We had literally just let her out for a bit when it happened. We heard the most awful shrieks from her. It was indescribable and she sounded terrified. Though we did our best to get her to a vets, she didn’t make it.

“Her legs had been savaged and she would have been paralysed so we had to take the kindest option and have her put to sleep. I just find it very scary that dogs like these or their owners can be ignored by the law. There are young children nearby and that makes me worry what will happen next.

“The police were brilliant but say there is nothing that can be done.”

Darwen MP Jake Berry MP backed her calls and said owners should be held responsible.

He said: “We are drafting new dangerous dogs legislation to make sure that dog owners have control over their own pets in public.”