A TEENAGE girl and her friends were shocked to witness a group of men attacking a husky at the Dingle in Appleton.

The fourteen-year-old, who asked not to be named, and two school friends said they saw the dog being wrapped in a rope and hit with sticks before a man spotted them and tried to follow them home at around 4.50pm yesterday, Sunday.

The brave youngsters phoned 999 and police are now appealing for witnesses to come forward.

The schoolgirl from Appleton, said: “We decided to go to the Dingle because there’s a bit where you can go on mud ramps on your bike.

“We heard this noise, it sounded like someone shouting but we realised it was the sound of a dog in distress. We were really worried so we walked towards it. We saw a rope wrapped around the dog and people hitting it with sticks.

“The next thing we saw a woman walk towards them and say ‘what are you doing?’ They told her it had a cut on its paw and then a man started shouting at her.

“We heard a massive scream, none of us were sure what it was. One man wearing white started following us – he must have known we had seen them and were calling the police.

“We managed to get out of there but we’re pretty sure the dog was dead.

“We saw it being hung, it was obviously really horrible.”

She went to find her mum after the incident and today they went back to the site of the attack.

Her mum said: “We found out yesterday when we were coming back from walking our own dog. I could tell straight away when I saw my daughter and her friends coming towards me that they were shocked and distraught.

“The first thing she said was ‘I want to see my dog’. They phoned 999, the kids were really distressed.

“There’s so many children who play in that area and lots of people walking dogs. But the place was quite far up the hill, near where kids have made rope swings.

“I just want to know if children are safe to go and play around there again.”

Police searched the area and spoke to members of the public but could not find the men or the dog.

Officers are appealing for anyone to come forward who may have seen two men in the area, described as very tall and aged in their 20s.

One was wearing a red Adidas hoodie and tracksuit bottoms, the other was wearing a white hoodie.

Anyone with information should call 101 quoting incident number 643 of August 13 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.