Family dog sees off armed gang

A family pet dog chased masked armed men from a house during a raid, police in Britain said today.

Three men burst into the house on Pepperwood Drive in Winstanley, near Wigan, Greater Manchester, around 10.25pm last night while the family were in the living room watching television.

The commotion caused the family dog, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, to attack one of the offenders and bite his leg.

The would-be thief was carrying a handgun and struck the dog, at which point the daughter of the homeowners, 22, got up to protect the animal.

The gunman then struck her several times in the head with the weapon, causing a cut that needed gluing.

The dog continued to bite at the offender, causing the gang to flee from the house empty-handed.

But the dog gave chase, forcing the man to drop his gun in the garden, and pulled the offender to the ground, but he was able to struggle free and ran off down a footpath.

Det Chief Insp Howard Millington of Greater Manchester Police, said: “Unless you have been through this sort of ordeal, it is impossible to know how this family is feeling having had the sanctity of their home invaded by three cowards carrying guns.

“To attack a defenceless young woman who was protecting her dog with a pistol is a shameful act and these men need to be caught and spend years looking at the four walls of a jail cell."