A man has been ordered to muzzle his two Rottweiler dogs after they attacked and killed a neighbour’s pet Chihuahua.

Darren Aherne, of Lower Pillory Down, Coulsdon, was told by Croydon Magistrates' Court, on July 30, that he must keep his dogs, Adonis and Beauty, under proper control or they will be destroyed.

Police were called to his road at 7.30am on Wednesday, January 16, to reports of the two dogs running around free.

A woman in her thirties told police her Chihuahua called Prince had been killed after being attacked by two Rottweillers in her front garden.

Aherne, 47, told police his dogs had been disturbed by an animal during the night and escaped through his electrical border fence which was faulty at the time.

The Dog Control Order requires that in public the dogs must be kept on a lead, wear a fully enclosed box muzzle and only walked by someone over the age of 18.

The dogs must also be microchipped and their full details supplied to the Carshalton South and Clockhouse Safer Neighbourhoods Team who will be made aware of any change in the dog’s ownership.