Neighbours have described hearing chilling screams after an XL Bully mauled a woman in her home. Police were forced to use riot shields to enter a property in Bristol yesterday after receiving reports of a woman being injured by an out-of-control dog.
The woman, believed to be in her 40s, suffered injuries described as “potentially life changing” and was rushed from the scene in an ambulance, while the dog was secured inside the home. She remained in hospital this morning. A large police presence was seen along the road last night, including five police cars and forensics teams, while family members and friends gathered outside the home.
Now, people living nearby have told of the chaos that unfolded in the moments that followed the attack.
A neighbour said: “I don’t know exactly what dog it was or what happened but I was out in the garden yesterday afternoon and I heard a commotion. A dog was barking and at one stage the dog sounded really nasty, vicious. I’ve heard him bark before but this time there was a lot of screaming going on from the children and then everything went quiet.
”I thought everything was under control. The next thing I knew, the police turned up. They’ve got a couple of dogs. One dog is big and looks like a bull terrier or a pitbull.
“I don’t see him walked around very often and he’s never come at me. They’ve been there a long time. We get on very well, she’s very nice. I take my dog out twice a day but I’ve never seen them out much – it might be different times they go out to me.
“We don’t chat a lot but when we do meet we do have a chat. This must have all kicked off around 3.30pm and there were four police cars and a big police van and a couple of unmarked cars.
“I was out in the garden working and every time I go out there the dog would bark, which is only natural I suppose. But this particular time at one stage, the dog really started barking and growling a lot and then the kids started screaming.
“The adult was saying: ‘Shut up’ or trying to control the dog, I think. When the commotion started, I thought that sounded a little bit different than it usually is with the dog, with the growls and the barks.
“It was a hot day yesterday; animals can turn funny in the heat. There were a few police officers standing on their doorstep.”
One resident, who doesn’t wish to be named, said: “I didn’t see it, I didn’t know until all the police cars were out here. There were police cars, a car ambulance and an ambulance that takes you to hospital, forensic vans, a dog van.
“There must have been about six vehicles and then the forensic van came after. There was a policewoman outside my gate and I think that’s when they were taking the dogs out.
”I think they put them down because they were holding black body bags and put them in the back of the van. She’s got children. She’s ever so nice. I never saw her dogs, I didn’t even know she had them.
”Quite a few have dogs so when they’re barking you never know which house it’s coming from. It was a bit hectic around here and not something that usually happens.”
Another neighbour said she had never seen the dogs being walked before.
A statement from Avon and Somerset Police last night said: “A woman has gone to hospital after being bitten by a dog at a home in Sutton Avenue, Bristol.
“The woman, believed to be in her forties, went by land ambulance, with injuries currently described as potentially life-changing, after emergency services were called to the address at about 4.15pm on Thursday 10 April.
“Police used protective shields to ensure their own safety while entering the address. The dog is secured at the property and officers remain at the scene pending the arrival of specialist dog handlers.”
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