docile animals and pets.

Cat owner Margaret Sousa of Sleepy Hollow in Hamilton Parish painfully recounted to The Royal Gazette the loss of Tibbytail, the second of three of her pet cats.

Mrs. Sousa discovered the mutilated carcass of her pet in her back yard last Tuesday morning.

"It was about 6.30 in the morning and Tibbytail was there,'' she said. "It was horrendous, her stomach was all torn out and it was just an awful sight.

"I did not actually see the attack but my neighbour did. The pitbulls apparently were chasing Tibbytail and got a hold of her.

"A man who was packing away a tent across the road saw them and threw a rock to break up the fighting. But the dogs then dragged my cat to my back yard and completely finished her off.'' Concerned that the killing was just one of many similar attacks, Mrs. Sousa noted that a second of her cats, Lilly, went missing in January.

"She simply did not return one day and now that I think about it, the other two cats were a bit nervous and scared after Lilly disappeared,'' she said.

"I think Lilly was killed by these dogs as well,'' she said adding, "and a few weeks ago rabbits were attacked and killed at a neighbour's house. And those rabbits were in a cage.

"Next time it could be a small child. They're (the dogs) obviously going around and launching attacks.'' Mrs. Sousa did alert Police to the problem but the dogs are unknown.

"They do not belong to anyone around here,'' she said. "All I know is that one is brown and white while the other is mustardy in colour. We are assuming they are coming from the Cottage Hill, My Lord's Bay area.'' Unable to pinpoint the vicious canine duo or their owners, Mrs. Sousa has called on Hamilton Parish residents to report their missing animals to Police and any dog attacks to the Government dog warden.

She said her third cat, Blackberry, has been "acting strange since the attack'' and that she has resorted to keeping her inside the house.