'Panther attacked dog' in Northamptonshire woods
An East Northamptonshire woman, who did not want to be named, was with her husband in Wakerley Wood in the north of the county when the incident took place on Sunday (October 13).
Her dog, a rottweiler cross labrador, was off the lead and went into the wood. It was found looking up into a tree and growling when they saw the big cat they described as a panther.
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Hide AdThe woman said: "It was about two or three times bigger than my dog and black.
"It was scruffy looking and had yellow eyes.
"What else could it have been?"
Her dog suffered a claw injury to the face and was taken to see a vet. The woman said she couldn't be certain but that the injury may have come from the big cat.
She reported it to police and was told that there had been other similar reports.
A police spokesman confirmed the reported attack was called into them at 4.45pm.
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Hide AdThe spokesman said: "We have made the Forestry Commission aware as it is their land."
A Facebook post about the incident warning other dog walkers has had almost 1,000 shares.
The woman said: "I won't be taking the dog back there.
"A lot of people are saying that we are making it up but we really are not."
The sighting is the latest in a long line of possible big cats seen in Northamptonshire and nearby Rutland.
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Hide AdOn March 31 this year Kettering man Craig Smith was convinced he also saw a panther in Wakerley Wood.
In 2012 a couple spotted a big cat in the same woodlands with other sightings near Gretton.
There was also a sighting of a big cat in 2008 in Wellingborough.
And in 2004 there were six sightings across our area in just two weeks.
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Hide AdCraig Lawton, from Rutland Wildlife Sanctuary, said the Wakerley Wood sighting could have been a panther.
He said: "There have been a lot of reports of it.
"A lot of people have had stock going missing such as sheep and lambs.
"We once had a report from someone staying at Barnsdale Lodge saying they saw a big cat coming across the road."
The Forest Commission has been contacted for comment.