Seagull ‘drops paw of dog or cat’ near where chihuahua was snatched

'I saw some angry seagulls fighting over something and acting suspiciously. The weird thing is that it also looked as if it had been burned'

An animal paw said to have been dropped by a seagull in Exeter (Daisy Pugh / SWNS.com)

A severed paw may be all that is left of a missing chihuahua named Gizmo.

The animal's foot is said to have been spotted being fought over by a flock of hungry seagulls a month after the dog was reportedly carried off by a seagull.

Daisy Pugh said she found the animal remains in the Triangle car park in Exeter.

“I saw some angry seagulls fighting over something and acting suspiciously,” she said.

“When I got closer I was shocked to see it was a paw and thought ‘oh my god’ - it looks like either a dog or a cat, definitely not a rabbit’s foot, it was a different shape.

“When I got to my boyfriend’s I told them and they all rushed out and ran down the street to see it.

“My friend felt the fur and said it was soft like a cat. The weird thing is that it also looked as if it had been burned. It was gruesome.”

Ms Pugh spotted the part around 25 miles away from where a dog was carried away by a seagull from a garden in Devon.

Gizmo, a four-year-old miniature chihuahua, was carried away by the bird in July, according to its owner, Becca Hill.

“I have no idea if he was dropped or where he is now,” she said at the time.

“Please, please, please, anyone finds a chihuahua he’s mine a seagull has took him from my garden,” Ms Hill said on Facebook.

The dog is yet to be found. It is unclear if the paw Ms Pugh found is Gizmo’s.

Recently a leg bone found on a rooftop in Totnes, Devon, was feared to belong to the dog

Experts later said it was probably a rabbit’s foot.

Additional reporting by agencies