'I was horrified': Dog 'locked in backyard' caught with cats in its mouth

A woman was left horrified after being sent videos and pictures of a dog 'locked in a backyard' of a house with cats in its mouth.

Katie Hayes, who runs the Pawpurrs Halfway House, a cat charity that has saved and rehomed more than 1,000 stray cats since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, received a heartstopping message from a worried family living in Trafford.

They contacted her for help out of desperation after claiming their next door neighbour had 'locked' their black dog out in the backyard and would see it walking around with cats in its mouth after reportedly attacking them.

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Katie, who contacted the RSPCA about the incident, says she fears the dog may have even killed cats and mauled a rabbit that was also pictured on the ground beside it in the backyard.

The Manchester Evening News understands that the RSPCA are currently investigating and that the dog has since been seized from its owner.

"They told me the dog was killing cats and just left out in the garden," Katie said, "The neighbour got herself in such a tizz about it all and was so concerned about what she was seeing so sent the videos and pictures to me.

"I was horrified. It was just absolutely awful, especially when you love cats and animals, it's heartbreaking. I didn't want to have to go to the news with it but watching the dog with those cats I knew it had to be stopped. People locally are panicking about their missing cats."

Katie first started rescuing abandoned and stray street cats in Covid-19 because of her love for the animals but it soon 'spiralled