Sutton woman thankful to community after pet dog Bella is killed by car

Helen Harwood-Farr was at work on September 4 when she received a phone call from Shannon Lodge vets in Sutton to say that pet dog Bella had been hit by a car near Cauldwell Road.

Yorkie Bella was killed on impact in the crash, suffering head injuries so bad that devastated Helen “could not even see her”, but she says the only thing that has got her through is “the way the community came together” to support her.

She has also called for the driver who hit Bella to come forward “for peace of mind”.

She said: “I left for work at about 7.50am and when I got there I had a phone call from the vets saying that Bella had escaped and that they had her.

“At first I said I’d come and pick her up, but then they said she had been hit by a car and had gone. I was devastated, and it was so hard to take in.

“About five people on my street tried to catch her and me and my husband Matt are so grateful for that.

“I can’t understand how she got off the garden, but when she did so many people spotted her, and everyone came together as she ran off.

“If it wasn’t for the love and attention we’ve received from everyone since it happened, I might not have been able to get over it in the way I have.”

Bella escaped the area and got near Cauldwell Road where she ended up on the MARR road and was struck, but Helen says the driver “just drove off” and did not stop.

She added: “The hardest thing is that someone hit her and left her to die. If you hit a can on the road you feel it, so the person must have known.

“I’m hoping someone can come forward, not for any particular justice but just for recognition that it was them.”