Concerned pet owners have struck out against the rising tide of dangerous dogs after a Jack Russell from Kentish Town was savaged for the second time in a year.

The comedian Sue Perkins and the television presenter Rick Edwards are among those to have expressed their horror about the ordeal which left pet dog Pepper shocked and traumatised.

The small pooch, from Queen’s Crescent, was out walking with owner Stephen Emms in Highbury Fields last Saturday (April 14) when she was mauled by two Staffordshire Bull Terriers.

The Staffies, which were off the lead at the time, left deep bite marks all over the other dog’s body and narrowly missed a lung.

It comes a year after she narrowly escaped death after being attacked by two Rottweilers on the Kent coast.

At that time she was “left for dead on the vet’s table” explained owner Mr Emms, founder of the online magazine blog the Kentishtowner. He has published the story of his pet’s ordeal on the website and says he has been overwhelmed by the response.

“It has been our biggest ever feature so far,” he said. “We’ve had over 50 comments and so much support from far and wide.

“I never expected it but it just goes to show how important this issue is and how much of a growing problem it is.”

The story featured in the “why it matters” section of the Kentishtowner website, devoted to serious issues.

Mr Emms has now condemned the current law on dangerous dogs as inadequate for failing to protect dogs as well as humans.

“It shouldn’t be just humans which the law is designed to protect, but dogs as well, as Pepper’s case shows,” he said.

“The police have no power or no interest in doing anything about attacks by dogs on dogs.”

He has called for all dogs considered dangerous or violent to be required to wear muzzles at all times in public areas.

He will be taking his campaign to the Department for Environment Food and Rural affairs, the government department currently consulting on revising the law.

His campaign comes as the government announced on Monday (April 23) that all dog owners in England will soon have to microchip puppies, in a bid to crack down on dangerous dogs.