Escaped raccoon dogs wreak havoc on an English village

Police have warned locals to steer clear of the animals

One of the raccoon dogs attacked a goat and a pony. Nottinghamshire Police

Police have issued a warning after reports that two “potentially dangerous” raccoon dogs attacked a goat and a pony in a quiet English village.

The canines escaped from an enclosure in Clarborough, Nottinghamshire, and have yet to be captured.

Villager Mandy Marsh said she was woken up to the sound of screaming on Tuesday morning and ran outside to see one of the raccoon dogs attacking her goat and pony.

“The pony was standing in the way trying to protect the goat. The raccoon dog was trying to kill it. It was absolutely crazy. It was hissing and screaming and snarling. It was going absolutely mad,” she told The Independent.

Ms Marsh said she and her husband Dale tried to get the animal to move by running at it with pieces of wood.

But the raccoon dog refused to budge for two hours and only moved on to terrify a passing dog walker.

“The woman eventually ran off down the lane with it – it was only a puppy – really upset. It would have killed that dog,” Ms Marsh added.

Raccoon dogs, also known as a tanuki or a Japanese raccoon dog, are not raccoons but are members of the canid (dog) family, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).

The RSCPA warns that the animals, which are native to the forests of eastern Siberia, northern China, North Vietnam, Korea, and Japan, are not suitable as domesticated pets.

Raccoon dogs need a lot of space and are extremely smelly because they use their scent to communicate with each other.

“The animals, which are described as being the same size of a medium to small-sized dog, are potentially dangerous if approached as they are not domesticated,” a spokesperson for Nottinghamshire police said.

“Police are advising anyone who sees the animals to report any sightings by calling 999.”