A 10 YEAR-OLD family pet died in vain says its owner.

Beverley Sumner, of Abbey Lane, Leigh claims her dog, which she and her boyfriend MIck Balmer decided should be put to sleep, had been wrongly branded a killer.

She had owned Toby, a cross-bred collie, since it was a pup but refuted claims that it had been partly responsible for the death of another dog savaged to death in a Melrose Avenue garden.

"Toby was seen in the garden where the attack happened, but he was soft. He did have some blood on his side, but I understand that came from an Alsatian. If he had ripped a dog to pieces his mouth would have been covered in blood. Police told us he didn't have to be put down but we had to keep him on our propert yand chained-up," she said.

"We decided to have him put to sleep because he had never been locked in. He slept outside in a kennel. He never roamed with any pack of dogs. My young sons are really upset.

"I think suggestions of a dog problem around here is blowing things out of proportion."

Mother-of-two Beverley said they were so upset about the incident they would not be replacing Toby.

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