MAGISTRATES have slapped a control order on a boxer dog that escaped from its home and mauled a family pooch that was being walked in the street nearby,

Children were left screaming and petrified by the incident, and the dog that was attacked suffered an open puncture wound to the top of its left leg.

The boxer had pinned the other dog to the ground, Ely magistrates were told; it was pulled off and taken back indoors.

Fifty-year-old Yvonne Wakefield appeared in court this week, and admitted that she was the owner of the dog on July 4, when the animal had been dangerous and not kept under proper control.

The control order demands that in future, the nine-year-old boxer called Willow must wear a muzzle when out in public, and must always be on a lead.

Wakefield, of Swaffham Road, Lode, told Ely magistrates that Willow had always been soft and gentle, the dog was an integral part of the family and had never given cause for concern.

Her five-year-old grandson had opened the door on July 4, allowing the Boxer to escape into the front garden.

“My husband pulled Willow off the other dog, he managed to separate them easily,” she said. “We will ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.”

Wakefield told police that since the incident, her back door was always kept locked, and a deadlock had been put on the front door, to ensure that children could not open it.