Officers were called to a Deakin Street home on Tuesday after reports of three dogs fighting.

When police arrived, they found a Staffordshire terrier with lacerations, bite marks and a suspected broken leg.

Neighbours of the dog’s owner were caring for the canine and had called an emergency veterinarian to the scene, but the dog’s attackers were nowhere to be found.

Police have identified the other dogs’ owner and Cessnock City Council is investigating the incident.