An elderly woman has been left devastated after her beloved pet dog was mauled to death by two Pitbull terriers on Christmas morning.

The savage animals struck while wheelchair-bound Mary Janette Burgess was home alone, and she was forced to try to fight one of them off with a mop when it went after her too.

Her faithful companion Prince, a Highland Terrier, suffered suffered such serious injuries in the attack that he died despite emergency treatment.

Yesterday heartbroken Mrs. Burgess, 70, called for owners of potentially dangerous dogs to heed what has happened, and make sure that nothing similar can happen again.

The horror unfolded at 10.45 on Christmas morning after Mrs. Burgess let Prince out in the garden of her home at Rocky Lane West, Hamilton Parish to exercise while tethered to a leash on the porch.

With her husband Norris and the rest of her family at church, she was first alerted to the attack was when a downstairs neighbour rang to tell her he believed Prince had been killed.

?He said that there were two Pitbulls attacking my dog and that I should not go out to look because it was a terrible sight,? said Mrs. Burgess.

?That really upset me and I did go out to look but as I went to open my door a Pitbull came at me. I had to get a mop and push him away and go inside and slam the door. It was very scary, the Pitbull?s head and chest were covered in blood. Prince could not go anywhere when he was being attacked because I had tied him up.?

Mrs. Burgess and her neighbour both rang the Police, and Mrs. Burgess also phoned a number of family members who were together at church service, and they quickly arrived at the scene.

Daughter Suzette Albouy was the first to arrive, and discovered the Pitbulls still in the garden along with the injured Prince.

The dogs made to attack her too, and she had to jump back in her car, but other family members were successful in chasing them away from the yard and getting their owner ? believed to live on a nearby estate ? to tie one of them up.

?The Police did not come after my Mom called them and when I got there I rang 911 too. I was screaming that the dogs were still there and that I couldn?t even get to my Mom and they said that the dog warden was on his way,? said Mrs. Albouy, 40, from Southampton.

?It was like a scene from a horror movie as the Pitbulls were just in a rage of killing. Prince was so bloodied-up that we thought he was dead. We rushed him to the animal hospital but the vet said he had too many injuries and he died.

?He was part of the family and did not deserve this ? we even had gifts for him under the Christmas tree.?

Mrs. Burgess is finding it very hard to come to terms with the loss of her beloved pet.

?Christmas Day was a terrible day. I had had Prince for more than two years and he was a lovely dog and a great pet. He was always there right at my feet and I have shed some tears over what has happened,? she said. ?Something has to be done about this.?

Mrs. Albouy believes the killer dogs were successfully caught by the dog warden. It remained unclear last night what has happened to them, but it is believed that a prosecution may result.

?The message needs to get out to the public about this. I didn?t realise how dangerous Pitbulls are. I don?t believe that they are bad animals, this is about how their owners treat them,? she said.

Police spokesman Robin Simmons said: ?The Bermuda Police Service takes all 911 calls seriously and does its best to attend as quickly as possible. However, there are some incidents where another agency may be better to deal with a situation. In this particular instance the Government dog wardens were the best individuals to deal with such as situation and they attended accordingly.?