A WOMAN was left disgusted after witnessing an “awful” attack which saw a dog “kicked like a football” outside a Benfleet primary school.

Julie Bell was driving past South Benfleet Primary School on her way to work when she witnessed a man kicking a dog “as though it was a football”.

The 60-year-old was left feeling sick at the “awful” attack that happened in front of children waiting at a bus stop.

Julie said: “I was going to work and the car in front of me was waiting to pull out.

“There was this guy and at first I thought he was kicking something into the railings. It looked like he was kicking a football but then I realised it was his dog.

“The dog was cowering into the railings as the guy was kicking it.

“It was just awful. You know when you have to do a double take because you can’t believe what you’re seeing.”

Julie loudly beeped her horn to draw attention to the situation and pulled the car over as soon as it was safe to do so.

Julie added: “He was punching the dog and totally oblivious to the sound. He then started to yank the dog and shouted abuse at me when he realised.

“As soon as I could I stopped and pulled over to see where he was but he had gone.”

Julie was disgusted at the attack and has made it her mission to make sure the dog is safe.

Julie said: “I drove to work and had tears coming down my face. It made me feel sick.

“I can’t get it out my head. I can still see it just by closing my eyes. If you don’t want a dog there’s plenty of places you can take it.

“I feel it’s my mission to make sure this dog is okay and gets rehomed.

“I hope we can get the dog rescued.”

Julie called the police to report the attack.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We were informed of an incident which occurred on the morning of Wednesday, March 3 in which a dog was reportedly being mistreated by a man in High Road, Benfleet.

“Based on the information we have, we referred the caller to the RSPCA, which would be the lead agency on the incident at this stage.

“However, we would urge anyone who witnessed the incident or has information on it to submit a report online at www.essex.police.uk.”