LITTLE Noah Marshall is too terrified to go outside after seeing his beloved greyhound hit by an air gun pellet in front of him.

The five-year-old was with his mum Victoria as they walked their three dogs, a German shepherd and two retired greyhounds, in fields not far from their home in Dicketts Road, Corsham, when a shot rang out.

Daisy, a 10-year-old former racing champion given a home by the family only a month earlier, dropped to the ground.

Mrs Marshall, 21, said that at first she was so shocked that she didn’t understand what had happened, but then it got worse.

She said: “A second gun shot went off immediately afterwards and Daisy just pelted down the field and I ran after her.

“I saw a man in a black balaclava and grey tracksuit about 100 yards from where I was standing and he ran off.”

Mrs Marshall raced across four fields following a blood trail before she came across Daisy. “I found her sprawled out on the ground,” she said.

Mrs Marshall carried the dog back to her home where her husband Kirk rushed the animal to the vets.

“I just couldn’t go in,” said Mrs Marshall.

“I thought I would never see her again.”

She said Noah suffered from nightmares following the shooting and his sixth birthday, a few days later, was ruined.

Daisy is now recovering well though she is too terrified to go outside. Mrs Marshall, a trainee nurse, said: “I won’t go back to the field.

“I walk them in the streets where everyone is around us as I am petrified it will happen again.

“My son is also too scared to go out because he thinks he might get shot and that isn’t how a little boy should live, he should be out playing.”

Sergeant Alex Reid, of Corsham Police, said: “This was a terrible incident and we are appealing for any witnesses who may have seen the man running away.”

To help call Wiltshire Police on 0845 408 7000.