A NEWPORT mum said she feared for her daughter’s life when a stray dog ran into their home and killed their cat.

Keyleigh Sheppard said she was petrified the pit bull type dog would harm her and her four-year-old daughter Chloe when it ran in from the street.

Miss Sheppard, 23, said: “It was absolutely horrific. I knew it had the cat but I was petrified it would go for my boyfriend and my little girl.

“I was terrified, shouting to him to get the baby out of the house.”

Miss Sheppard and partner Phil Doody were in their Lliswerry home in Hampden Road around 1.30pm on Saturday when a dog walker knocked the door.

He said he was concerned the stray was roaming the streets and asked if anyone knew the owner.

As Mr Doody, 27, talked to the man the dog jumped up, pushed the garden gate open and bolted into the living room.

Miss Sheppard immediately picked up Chloe before the dog attacked the family’s four-year-old cat Tilly, which was sleeping in the kitchen.

The couple tried and failed to get the dog off and could only watch as it dragged the pet into the living room and killed it.

Scared it might also attack them, they shut it in the room and called police, who took the animal to the vet.

Miss Sheppard said the family had been traumatised by the incident and is calling for the dog to be put to sleep branding it “dangerous”.

She also condemned its owners for not keeping it under control.

Police confirmed they attended the address and took the dog, which is brown with white markings on its chest, to the vet.

Officers have not yet been able to locate its owner as it was not wearing a collar and was not microchipped.

Anyone with information about the dog’s owner is asked to call 101.