UNITED KINGDOM -- A schoolgirl was savaged to death by four dogs yesterday as she ate lunch at a friend’s house.
It is thought the two Staffordshire bull terriers, a bull mastiff and an American bulldog went berserk when Jade Lomas-Anderson, 14, began eating a meat pie.
As they tried to grab the pie, they bit her throat and Jade, who was alone in the house, was unable to fight them off.
Police using riot shields stormed the house in Atherton, Wigan, before marksmen killed the snarling animals. But by the time officers reached Jade she was dead on the floor, bleeding from bite marks all over her body.
Neighbours said she had been staying with her friend Kimberley Concannon for the first few days of the Easter holidays.
Mrs Concannon is a breeder who sells Staffordshire bull terrier pups for up to £200 and has a Facebook page full of fierce-looking dogs.
Mrs Concannon’s Facebook profile picture is a photograph of the bull mastiff, Neo, which she described as ‘my baby’.
She described the dog as too protective and admitted the dog did not like children, adding: “He doesn’t like youngsters or screaming. He has gone to bite — but had him castrated to calm him down.”
Mrs Concannon also warned “a bully” could be deadly. She said: “A growl from a bully is a warning not to go near them. You should never trust a bully.”
Neighbours said Jade’s horrific death was a ‘tragedy waiting to happen’ and that the dogs used to growl and bark at anyone who came near the terraced house.
One resident said: ‘The dogs were really scary – Staffies and bull mastiffs. Jade knew these animals so I don’t know why they all went for her. These animals were a menace and everyone was scared of them. It is shocking.’
Armed police were called out and had to shoot the four dogs so officers could get inside the house. A fifth dog was contained in a separate room and had not been involved in the attack.
The other dogs destroyed were an American bulldog called Buddy and two Staffordshire bull terriers – one male, one female.
Despite attempts to resuscitate Jade, she was later pronounced dead.
Police said Jade’s injuries ‘were consistent with her having been attacked by dogs’. A post-mortem examination was being carried out last night to establish the exact cause of death.
(Daily Mail - Mar 26, 2013)
