BY CRONAN SCANLON

CHILDREN in Ballybofey had to be locked in cars for their safety on Tuesday night after a Pit Bull Terrier went on the rampage.

The Ballybofey United U8 soccer team were getting ready to start training on their pitch beside Finn Park when the dog attacked another dog belonging to one of their parents.

The dog, which was being kept beside a nearby caravan on Chestnut Road, also burst the team's football. Team management had to protect the children in a corner of the field for fear that the dog would attack them.

Other parents who arrived were warned not to let their children out of their cars for up to an hour as the aggressive dog stayed in the field.

"I pulled up in the car and the manager shouted at me not to let him (her son) out of the car as a Pit Bull was on the loose," one parent said.

"I rang the gardai while the other adults stayed with the children as their parents had gone home after dropping them off. One of the parents dog was bitten by the Pit Bull and it also burst the ball so we could take a chance. It was a terrifying experience for the children in the field".

When gardai arrived they contacted the dog's owner who placed it in the caravan. A dog warden arrived on Wednesday and took the dog to the County Pound in Letterkenny where it is expected to be put down.

A Staffordshire Pit Bull Terrier is listed as "dangerous" and should be muzzled and kept on a leash when in public according to a spokesman for the ISPCA.

The dog is one of a number of breeds which are banned in Britain and Northern Ireland.