TRAUMATISED dog owners say they will never holiday at a Clacton caravan park again after their pet chihuahua was mauled to death by an out-of-control rottweiler.

Basil Kohler, 64, owns a caravan pitch at Valley Farm Holiday Park, in Valley Road, with his 58-year-old wife Marcelle.

They have accused the park of inaction after their holiday turned to horror over the Easter weekend.

Marcelle had taken their two dogs, Bailey and Millie, for an evening stroll at around 6.30pm.

Basil, from Bishops Stortford, said: “Just as she’s come round a corner she heard this rottweiler barking and snarling.

“She back-pedalled and was very scared, she’s only little and she had two small dogs with her.

“The rottweiler broke loose from this plastic tether and came bombing over.

“It attacked my wife and mauled one of our dogs.

“There is no other way to describe it other than to say it crushed him.

“He was left with injuries including a fractured spine.

“My wife was screaming for help, on top of this dog desperately trying to open its mouth.

“She sustained a bad bruise to her right arm.

“The owner eventually appeared and got him off.”

Marcelle whisked a dying Bailey wrapped in a towel to the vets.

A witness alerted Basil to the attack and he rushed to join his wife.

He said: “When I got to the vets, I just broke down.

“My wife was covered from her neck down to her trainers in blood.

“A vet came out and asked us if we wanted Bailey to be made comfortable before he passed away, but then someone else came out and said ‘We’ve lost him.’

“She gave a statement over the phone to the police and we know the dog has been barred from the site - but we want to know what is happening to the owner.

“She surely broke all the rules about keeping dogs tied up on site.

“My wife has been over and over it again - she blames herself.”

Basil said they would be selling up their caravan and not returning.

“The park have not been very sympathetic and we can’t bring ourselves to go back.

“We will be selling up.”

A police spokesman said: “We continue to talk to the victim and we have allocated an officer to investigate the incident.”

Anyone with information about the incident can contact Essex Police on 101 quoting crime reference number 42/63877/19.

A spokesman for Valley Farm Holiday Park said: “We are supporting the owner whilst helping police with their investigation. The offending dog was immediately removed and banned from our park as we take the safety of all our visitors and their pets very seriously.”