Terrifying moment dog owner forced to fight off three thieves who 'barged into his home to steal his pets'

THIS is the terrifying moment a dog owner was forced to fight off three thieves who had "barged into his home to steal his pets."

Ryan Hesford, 33, was home alone with his three dogs on Wednesday night when he heard someone persistently ringing his bell and banging on his door, just before 9pm.

The dog owner attempted to speak to them from inside the house via his Ring doorbell, which captures video and allows you to speak through a built-in microphone to people on the doorstep.

But when he couldn't connect to the doorbell through his phone, Ryan went to answer the door.

And dramatic footage shows the three men, two of whom were wearing masks, attempt to shove past Ryan into his home in Doncaster, South Yorks.

During the scuffle – in which one of the masked men can be seen brandishing a metal bar – one man does manage to get into Ryan's house, and is seen looking around, trying to find the barking dogs.

But just a few seconds later, one of Ryan's neighbours came to his aid as he wrestled the other two men away from his front door – and the three men can then be seen scarpering off down the road.

Property manager Ryan said: "It was very stressful – it was all a bit mental for 9pm on a Wednesday night.

"The whole thing happened in literally 16 seconds from when I opened my front door.

"But I just feel so lucky that the guy who got into my house didn't open the door to the room where the dogs were. The good thing is that the dogs are safe.

"I have two Shih tzus and a Pomeranian, which I believe are massive on the hit list of dogs going missing at the moment."

Ryan added that he didn't realise until he watched the Ring footage back later on that one of the men had actually got into his house during the commotion.

He said: "That was scary to watch back. But it looks like he panicked after a few seconds of getting in, and then he just left again."

Ryan said he was home alone with the dogs when the incident happened on Wednesday night, as his partner was away working in London.

The Ring doorbell footage shows one of the men, with a distinctive neck tattoo, knock on Ryan's front door twice, appearing impatient as he waited for an answer.

When the dogs started barking from inside the house, the man then moved to the front window and tried to peer in through the blinds, before knocking twice on the window.

Ryan said: "I was actually doing some work on my laptop and I had my headphones in, so I didn't hear the knocking.

"I got a notification through the Ring app on my phone saying there was motion in my front yard, but I looked at the camera and couldn't see anything – so I assumed maybe an animal had wandered through.

"Then I noticed the dogs jumping up at the window, which they only do when somebody is at the door."

The Ring footage then shows Ryan answering the door, and the man with the neck tattoo can be heard saying, "Parcel for Gary?".

When Ryan attempts to tell the man that there is no Gary at that address, the man lunges at him – with one of his masked accomplices also piling into the scuffle.

Ryan said: "I could tell as soon as I opened the door that something wasn't right.

"He seemed really agitated on his feet, he was shifting from left to right.

"I attempted to slam the door on him as he came for me, but he and the other two pushed back and I've been left with a big black eye.

"Two of them did also have metal bars, which I think is how I've got the big cut and bruise that have been left on my right arm.

"All I could think was that I needed to get them away from my house.

"I managed to wrestle two of them out the front, and then I jumped over the wall and knocked on my neighbour's window, and they came out to help me.

"That's when all three of them ran off down the road."

Ryan has now shared the footage with police, who are circulating it in an attempt to track down the men.

He said: "The police got here within five minutes of the men running off – it was a really good response, I can't fault them.

"They were here with crime scene officers and forensics until about 2am."

And Ryan added: "I just want to get the footage out there to warn others to be aware of people like this.

"Not everybody would be able to fight back like I did. It's harrowing to think what might have happened next if it was an old lady that they targeted."

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