THE distraught owner of a Yorkshire terrier which was savagely attacked by two huskies outside Barnsley Market last week has revealed his beloved pet died as a result of its injuries.

Last Monday, Raymond Skelly was walking his dog, Suzy, through the town centre when she was attacked as horrified shoppers looked on.

The huskies reportedly ran towards Suzy before biting and shaking the 12-year-old.

The attack left her with three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a large wound across her stomach and despite reaching a vet only minutes after the attack happened, Suzy died at home on Saturday.

“When we rushed her to the vet, he did warn that things weren’t looking good,” said Raymond, 70, from the town centre.

“She was such a small dog and the huskies were much larger and more powerful - but even though things weren’t looking good I kept up hope that she would be okay.

“I was allowed to bring her home last Friday and I gave her her medicine and sat with her.

“I woke up several times in the night to make sure she was okay, but when I awoke at 5am she had died in my arms.”

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Raymond said he has been struggling since the death of his Yorkshire terrier, Sam, just nine weeks ago and that Suzy helped him to get out of the house - albeit for short periods.

“They have been my companions for well over a decade and now they’re both gone,” he added.

“I am still grieving the death of Sam and it helped to have Suzy with me and take her on walks. Now I don’t feel like I want to leave the house because I won’t have her with me.

“Something needs to be done to stop these dogs from hurting another dog. We were just shopping and before I knew it the dogs were biting her. It happened so quickly but it shouldn’t have happened at all.

“The police said they can’t do anything because it was dog-on-dog but my dog has died because of what they did.”

Another dog owner, Sharon Cotney-Walker said her dog, Evie, was attacked by huskies in the Courtyard car park in the town centre last year.

Like Raymond, she wants tougher restrictions placed on owners whose dogs attack other dogs.

“We were walking through the car park when these two huskies came out of nowhere and attacked my Evie,” said Sharon, 50, from Smithies.

“I was screaming and I jumped on the dogs and pried them off her - she was covered in blood, it was absolutely terrifying.

“She had puncture wounds on her side and needed staples in her paw. She needed emergency surgery and it was touch-and-go for a while.

“I can’t believe dog owners are allowed to take their dangerous dogs into public places. We made a police report at the time and we were told that not much could be done since it was my dog that was attacked but how much longer before it’s a child that’s hurt.

“My Evie is a small staffie and the huskies almost tore her up, I don’t want to have to read about a child getting attacked before the police decide to prosecute the owner.

“If you have a dog you should be in control of it at all times.”