A DISTRAUGHT cat owner has described her shock after her defenceless cat was viciously attacked by a dog off its lead.

Leo, a 16-year-old brown and black cat, was left with a broken sternum, bruising and nerve damage following the incident on Burnham Quay last week.

Owner Jackie Brown, 51, and a friend watched on in shock as the attack unfolded in a bush in a car park opposite the Corinthian Yacht Club at around 8.30pm on March 13.

The dog only released Leo, a rescue cat from Australia, after Jackie’s friend intervened.

Jackie, of Belvedere Road, said: “I was in my flat and all of a sudden I heard screaming and shouting outside.

“I went outside and my friend was over by the Royal Corinthian trying to get this dog off my cat. The owner was there but he wasn’t doing anything.”

When Leo got free Jackie could see that he was injured and rushed him to an emergency vets in Witham.

She said: “I picked him up – I didn’t know what injuries he had but there was a lot of blood on him. The man told us to get him to the vets as soon as possible.

“He had a problem breathing as he had a broken sternum and he has damage to his radial nerve so is dragging his front leg. He also has extensive bruising.”

Leo spent the night at the vets in Witham before being taken to the Edgewood vets in Purleigh where he has spent the last seven days recovering.

Jackie added: “I just didn’t know if he was going to make it or not.

“I’m concerned that such a dangerous dog was off its lead, and that the owner seemed to have little control of it.”

The incident has been reported to the police.