Vampire dog spotted in Texas

The Chupacabra, which literally translates as Goat Sucker, has taken on legendary status akin to Bigfoot in Latino circles which has seen it appear in books and films including Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico.

It has previously been sighted as far south as Chile and Argentina and as far north as the US state of Maine, and similar animals have been described in Russia and the Philippines.

Its latest appearance was caught on a dashboard-mounted camera by deputy sheriff Brandon Riedel and his officer Ellie Carter in the town of Cuero, Texas.

"We were checking fences when this thing jumped out at us," Mr Carter said.

"I shouted: 'It's a chupacabra!' I recognised it instantly from TV. It had big teeth, a big head, short legs in the front and long legs in back."

In August last year, a chupacabra was blamed for the deaths of around 30 chickens on a nearby farm.

The animals were found drained of blood with two puncture marks in their otherwise uninjured bodies.

The farm's owner, Phylis Canion, claimed to have discovered the carcasses of three strange animals, one of which she preserved in her freezer before handing it over for DNA analysis.

The publicity from that attack saw T-shirts featuring the chupacabra shipped around the world, and there was talk of changing Cuero's mascot.

However, Texan scientists who investigated the case said the animal was likely to be a coyote, potentially crossed with a grey fox.