Florida (USA) - It was supposed to be a normal walk in the park for dog walkers - but it ended in a nightmare: A woman sprayed pepper spray on dogs that came too close to her own four-legged friend.

This terrible incident took place last Saturday in Cape Coral, a city in the US state of Florida.

As the Miami Herald reports, several pets were hit in the pepper spray attack.

One dog was hit particularly hard: the woman, who was later identified as Charlene Tedesco (67), sprayed the irritant directly into the animal 's eyes.

Witnesses said that the dog then "howled and howled and tried to rub its eyes in the dirt".

The police reported that the 67-year-old had already sprayed four-legged friends several times on other days.

"Tedesco explained to the officers that she sprayed the dogs' paws because she was afraid that they might attack her dog," according to a police report.

However, according to the officers, she did not have to use the pepper spray: The woman attacked the animals in a cordoned-off dog park - but she herself was outside the fence, so there was no danger from other four-legged friends.

Charlene Tedesco was charged with animal cruelty and was permanently banned from the park.