Lorelei Godfrey was left with bruises to her arm and teeth marks to her leg and her pet chihuahua Meika is fighting for its life after Monday’s attack.

Mrs Godfrey said she was walking Meika and her second dog, a maltese-pomeranian named Buttons, around Horsham Racecourse and along Bennett Road when she noticed a larger dog approaching.

The dog had no collar and there was no-one with it.

Mrs Godfrey said she stopped with her two pets as the dog approached.

She said the dog sniffed Buttons and then grabbed at her.

“Buttons ran behind me and it hit my legs with its teeth,’’ she said.

Mrs Godfrey lifted her pets, which were on a lead, up in the air out of reach.

“I couldn’t hold the bigger one,’’ she said.

Mrs Godfrey’s grip slipped and she said the dog grabbed Meika by the lead.

“It pulled and dragged me as well,’’ she said.

“By that time I’d dropped the lead. The dog threw her in the air and sent her crashing.’’

The dog tossed Meika around as Mrs Godfrey screamed.

A man who was dropping off his children at Bennett Road Kindergarten heard her screaming and approached, at which point the dog ran away.

Mrs Godfrey said an older gentleman walking his own dog stopped to make sure she was okay.

She said the first man, Andre, drove Mrs Godfrey to a vet where Meika was put on a drip and examined.

“She was in shock and I was too,’’ she said.

Mrs Godfrey went to hospital, where her injuries were treated.

“They thought my thumb was broken but it’s not, it’s just sprained,’’ she said.

Meika was in far worse shape.

Mrs Godfrey said she had three fractures in her femur and three fractures in her pelvis.

She said Meika had to have a back leg amputated.

“Her gut’s not working and she might still die,’’ she said.

Mrs Godfrey called the Horsham Rural City Council ranger, who captured a dog and brought it to the hospital for her to identify.

But it was the wrong dog.

Mrs Godfrey has called on anyone who could help the ranger catch the dog.

She said she feared for the safety of children walking to the kindergarten and other pet owners walking dogs in the area.

She described the dog as looking like a dalmatian, white with small grey spots, and about knee high.

“It’s not a huge dog but it was strong enough. It was strong to pull me,’’ she said.

Mrs Godfrey said the ranger had been looking for the culprit, but to no avail.

She and her adopted daughter Pauline O’Connor have also scoured the streets and asked people if they had seen the dog.

Mrs Godfrey pleaded for the owner or anyone with information about the dog to come forward.

“Everyone’s afraid,’’ she said. “Even the gentleman who helped me is afraid it could attack a child.

“It’s not impossible it could attack a child.’’

Mrs Godfrey said sheey said she had been walking her dogs in the area since January, and had previously walked them near had been walking her dogs in the area since January, and had previously walked them near the Wimmera River.

She said she had never expected an attack in Horsham.

The attack has had a significant effect on her.

"I'm terribly upset,'' she said.

"I'm still very shaken. I've just had to go to bed the past couple of days.

"She's my little baby. I'm so worried that she's not going to live.

"I feel really sad - she's become a really big part of our lives.''

Horsham council law enforcement officer Maurice Rudolph said council was following leads on the dog.

He said it was a timely reminder to people about letting dogs run loose.

Mr Rudolph said many dog attacks went unreported.

He said council often received reports from out of the city about dogs in paddocks with sheep.