A DONKEY foal is fighting for her life after being attacked by a dog at Bramshaw.

The five-day-old foal suffered horrific injuries to its neck and a vet had to be called in to treat the animal, which belongs to Ray Bennett.

He found the badly-injured foal on Tuesday morning after days of searching for the animal's pregnant mother, Nanny.

His ex-wife Sheena Rees helped with the search.

"We'd been looking for Nanny for several days because she was pregnant and the weather had been pretty bad. They go off and have their babies in secret. We were not expecting this to happen.

"Raymond found her and the foal on Sturtmoor Common. It was horrible, the foal had teeth marks on her neck and she had fly-strike and was crawling with thousands of maggots. She was barely alive. I think it will be a miracle if she lives," said Sheena.

An upset Sheena said the vet treating the severely- injured foal told her the attack was carried out by a dog. "I'd never heard of a donkey being attacked before by a dog but the vet has no doubt it was a dog that did it. It probably happened just after the foal was born. She is still suckling from her mum. It's going to cost hundreds of pounds in vet bills. She is being nursed in the stable. It's a mega job but we are doing all we can for her. She is very itchy and wants to scratch all the time," added Sheena, pointing out that if the foal survives she will probably be scarred for life.

Now Sheena is urging all dog owners to keep their four-legged friends under control in the countryside in a bid to prevent further incidents like this one.

But, she says, the majority of owners don't let their dogs run wild. "We've got sheep and have never had any real problems with dogs attacking them. I am surprised by what's happened to the donkey. It's rare for the animals to be attacked," concluded Sheena.

l Check for an update on the foal's progress on www.romseyadvertiser.co.uk