A woman who trains dogs for a living is calling for tighter controls after her cat was killed in a savage attack by a Rottweiler.

Nicola Milne, was leaving her home in Harman Avenue, Woodford Green, when she heard a man shouting from the bridle path at the rear of her property.

She said: “I rushed round there and saw a Rottweiler standing over my cat Max.

“The owner was shouting ‘leave it’ but not doing anything other than that to stop the attack.

“I screamed at the dog to stop and it just stood there looking at me. I scooped Max up because he was dragging himself along the floor.

“The man just said ‘Sorry darling. Get it to a vet.’ and walked off. He really didn’t care.”

Mrs Milne rushed Max to an emergency vet, but they were unable to save the 16-year-old cat.

Devastated Mrs Milne called both Waltham Forest council and spoke to police after dialling 101.

She said: “Because this is a bridle path, a lot of people come out of the forest with their dog off the lead.

“I would like to see some signs telling people that they must keep their dogs on leads.

“The dog wardens at Waltham Forest said if they catch the man they can give him an £80 fine and order that his dog be muzzled. The police just didn’t seem that interested.”

Mrs Milne, a dog agility trainer, added: “I see incidents like this all the time. A neighbour of mine had his dog attacked by a mastiff the other week.

“If people want to own these powerful dogs then they should be made to go through training with them.

“I have four dogs and they have all been put through obedience training.

“What happened to Max has left me feeling traumatised. I wake up at night replaying the scene in my head.

“Since I haven’t heard anything back from the council, I just want to get the message out there about this.”

The attack happened on Sunday, May 12 at around 8.50am. Mrs Milne describes the man as around 5ft 8in with a medium build and dark hair. He was in his thirties.