A DISTRAUGHT dog owner is furious after her Rhodesian Ridgeback was killed by a train but the driver failed to report it.

Claudia Carter, from Great Barrow, spent days touring Cheshire with ‘missing’ posters and alerting local news outlets after her dog escaped from stables in Waverton last week.

But three-year-old Zack, an eight-stone thoroughbred who cost Claudia £1,000, was killed by a train before Claudia returned from showjumping in Dodleston to find him gone.

She made the grim discovery herself while scouring the area for clues three days later, on the train track between Rowton and Christleton. Zach had earlier been spotted roaming on the A41 itself.

She said: “He was in half which was horrific. I can’t believe the effect it’s had on people.

“When he went missing there were 439 people on the Facebook group. He was known by everybody. He wasn’t just a dog – he was a legend.”

Ms Carter is convinced the driver knew he had hit Zack and angry that she was not told.

She added: “He’s put me and a lot of other people through unecessary stuff.

“ I’m not saying he could have stopped, it was probably inevitable he was going to get hit there.

“But if it had been reported, it would have saved me seeing my dog like that.

“If anything I want an official apology from the driver because he put me through too much.”

After going missing on Tuesday, April 27, Zack’s mutilated body was found on Friday, April 30.

He was later buried in a private wood at Brown Heath Farm, Tarvin.

However, Arriva Trains Wales spokeswoman Katrina Tzannis said they had no record of the incident.

She added: “I’d imagine it’s a freight train if it’s not on our log. It’s just an unfortunate situation. If she wasn’t there she can’t be certain what time it happened.”

It is Network Rail’s responsibility to let an owner know if their pet has been hit – as long as they have been informed by the train company involved.

But Keith Lumley, spokesman for Network Rail, checked the incident log and said there were no signs of the incident being reported to them either.

He added: “We would normally expect a train driver to report hitting an animal. If only for the fact that once an animal dies on the railway line it becomes bio-hazardous waste and you’re supposed to get contractors in to remove it.”