TEN dogs have been photographed by the RSPCA and police in a bid to curb dog attacks on an Oxford estate.
The move follows a string of incidents in Blackbird Leys and Greater Leys over the past 18 months.
In several incidents, dogs were encouraged to attack and kill cats by young owners, according to the RSPCA.
Doug Davidson, RSPCA inspector for Oxfordshire, said all dogs flagged up as a potential concern had been photographed.
He said: “We have been going to where suspected dogs are and photographing them, talking to the owners and pointing out the legalities of owning certain types of dog. We’ve got them on camera, their names, addresses.
“Most of them will be innocent, but you never know, somewhere in that lot there might be someone breaking the law.
“I’m hoping that news of the attacks will have got round the estate and it helps to stop some of the incidents.
“I don’t think we have had an incident of that sort in the last couple of months.
“We photographed mainly Staffies, Staffie-crosses and Lurcher-crosses, that sort of dog.
“They were the ones that people were ringing in about when they saw the articles in the paper.
“The file is still open and if we get another call about a dog we will add it to the photo gallery.”
Mr Davidson said the photographs would be shown to victims in an effort to track down their owners.
In July this year, shop assistant Wendy Parker, 56, of Verbena Way, Greater Leys, was set upon by a Rottweiler in Primrose Place. She was left with two large puncture wounds in her hip and bruising.
A family’s pet kitten was ripped apart by two lurcher dogs in Primrose Place, Greater Leys, in May.
Cats were also killed in the area in January and April.
Last year cat owner Laura Evan said she found her seven-month-old kitten, Tabbers, “deliberately ripped apart” by a dog that had been goaded by two teenage boys.
The attack happened outside her home in Honeysuckle Grove, Greater Leys.
Anyone with information about dog attacks should call Thames Valley Police on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
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