The dog owner mauled to death by her two registered XL bullies was today identified as Angeline Mahal following the latest tragedy involving the banned breed.
The victim in her 50s, was fatally attacked yesterday at her home in Hornchurch, East London, with armed police bearing riot shields called to deal with the animals.
The two registered dogs were seized after being contained in a room, and a blue forensic tent was put up outside her home in the small residential street.
A cordon remained around the property today as investigations continued after the woman was pronounced dead at the scene following the incident at 1.10pm.
And photographs taken by MailOnline this morning revealed a sign in one of the front windows at the home, which reads: ‘Never mind the dog, beware of the kids’.
Angeline Mahal, in her 50s, was fatally attacked yesterday at her home in Hornchurch
Angeline Mahal has died following the latest tragedy involving the banned breed of dogs
A police cordon in Hornchurch, East London, today after the dog owner was mauled to death
The sign in one of the windows at the home saying: ‘Never mind the dog, beware of the kids’
Neighbours were left shaken by the ‘awful’ attack, which comes after it became a criminal offence in February to own the XL bully breed in England and Wales without an exemption certificate.
Anyone who owns one of the dogs must have had the animal neutered, have it microchipped and keep it muzzled and on a lead in public, among other restrictions.
One neighbour who lived opposite told MailOnline: ‘I never saw the dogs at all but once I had to knock at the house to retrieve a parcel and I heard them barking.
‘They sounded like big dogs, I was a little wary, but I didn’t see them.’
It is believed the victim’s two sons, both in their 20s, raised the alarm after visiting their mother yesterday.
A neighbour told MailOnline: ‘They were both outside the house yesterday as the paramedics were trying to save their mum.
‘The medics were working on her on the front driveway by the front door. One of the sons was in tears but you could see they were both devastated.
‘The woman lives on her own with the dogs but her sons come round and visit her regularly. I’ve never seen the dogs being walked. I’ve not really seen them in the garden either. I hear them quite a bit in the house, they sometimes bark at night.
‘The woman who died has been renting the house for about two to three years.’
Another woman who lives a few doors away told MailOnline she saw medics working on the victim.
She said: ‘The first I knew that something was up was when I saw all the police cars and the ambulance parked on the corner.
‘I went out into the road and saw paramedics doing chest compressions on someone right by the front door of a house to the left of mine. I asked a police officer what was going on and if we were safe because initially I thought this might be a stabbing.
‘The officer said we were safe but asked out of respect if I could go back into the house. But a few hours later the police called round to the house and asked us to leave, they said we were now being evacuated for our own safety.
One police officer standing outside the property this morning as investigations continueÂ
Police are still at the scene this morning after a woman was killed by her two XL Bully dogsÂ
‘The whole close seemed like it was being evacuated. We all moved to the corner by the cordon. About two hours later we were allowed back into our homes.
‘When I was told it was a tragic incident involving two XL Bully dogs I was shocked. My husband had been out in the garden early yesterday and didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary, no screaming or barking.
‘The lady who lived there was fairly quiet, I didn’t know her very well.’
Neighbours living on the same road also revealed that they were twice evacuated as police dealt with the incident, adding that they heard but never saw the two dogs.
They said the woman was taken outside her home by paramedics who performed CPR on her own driveway.
One man living next door to the woman’s home said: ‘I didn’t hear anything but saw the police cars and paramedics turn up. I looked out the window and saw all the police and paramedics outside at about 1:30pm.
‘I didn’t know the woman; she was just a neighbour I would say hello to.’
The college student added that though he’d never seen the two dogs, he knew they were big from hearing their barks.
He said: ‘I never saw the dogs – I just heard them barking. The woman has probably been there for about two years. The woman lives there, but I don’t think her two sons do.
‘They did regular visits though, probably about twice a week. I would hear the dogs barking most days, but never saw them. But even when you heard them, you could tell they were large dogs. You could hear them running about, thumping around…
On the evacuations, he added: ‘We were evacuated to the end of the road at around 4pm, 4:30. The whole road was evacuated. They let us come back for an hour or so, then took us out again at around six, and that’s when they took the dogs.
‘The police said they were ‘dealing with the issue’, but we knew the issue was the dogs. I saw they had guns on them.’
Another woman living opposite the woman’s home said she too had never seen the woman’s dogs, and was shocked to hear about the attack on her road.
‘It was a very surprising thing,’ she said. ‘We never heard any barking and we never saw the dogs. We never saw the woman that lived there and it was the first time seeing her two boys yesterday.
‘They were standing around with another relative… I think they are both under 20 but I’m not sure.’
Another neighbour said she feared the animals were dangerous and warned her child to never touch them.
Police officers at the scene this morning on Cornwall Close in Hornchurch, East London
She told the PA news agency: ‘I said ‘don’t ever touch those dogs. They’re dangerous’.’
Another woman living nearby, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed her shock at the attack.
She told the PA news agency: ‘I came out of the house and looked to see what had happened. We hadn’t heard anything but saw a helicopter overhead and loads of police.
‘I stood by the road and saw a paramedic administering CPR. That poor woman. It’s shocking.’
Neighbours say they were told to stay indoors ‘out of respect’ before being evacuated by the police.
The scene in Hornchurch, East London, after the woman in her 50s died after being attackedÂ
Police officers at the scene this morning on Cornwall Close in Hornchurch, East LondonÂ
One man who has asked to remain anonymous said: ‘I was sat in the garden when it happened. I didn’t hear anything but I saw a helicopter overhead.
‘I looked out and saw two or three ambulances and eight or nine police cars. We asked police what had happened, they said there’d been ‘an unfortunate incident’.
‘At around 4.15pm we were told to evacuate. We were out for around half an hour while police blocked off the road.’
Photos taken on the quiet road last night show a heavy police presence, with a cordon set up around the house where the attack took place and officers removing equipment including shields which were used to help secure the property.
Witnesses living nearby reported seeing half a dozen police vehicles arrive in the quiet residential cul-de-sac with their blue lights and sirens on, followed by ambulance and air ambulance crews.
One person told the Daily Mirror that police had not killed the dogs involved, and had instead ‘taken them away’.
Police at the scene in Hornchurch last night with an officer seen carrying a shieldÂ
Armed officers from the Metropolitan Police were scrambled to the house last night
Police at the scene in Hornchurch last night with an officer seen carrying a shieldÂ
They said: ‘There’s been vans back and forth non-stop since lunchtime and we saw the helicopter come over and you assume the worst.
‘Campion [a nearby school and sixth form college] isn’t far from here so you panic it’s kids or something. You never think a dog’s going to do that. It’s awful.’
One person wrote on X that they had seen ‘half dozen police vehicles, blue lights and sirens, ambulance and air ambulance’ head to the road.
The incident is thought to be the first fatal attack involving registered XL Bully dogs since fresh restrictions on the breed came into force on February 1.
Two days after the ban came into force Esther Martin, 68, was killed by XL bullies inside a property in Jaywick, Essex. Her daughter claimed the dogs were unregistered.
Speaking about yesterday’s incident, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: ‘A woman in her 50s has died after an incident inside a house in Hornchurch.
Police remained on the scene into the evening last night following the fatal XL Bully attackÂ
Police at the scene in Hornchurch last night with an officer seen carrying a shieldÂ
‘Police were called to Cornwall Close around 1.12pm on Monday, May 20, to reports of a woman attacked by a dog.
‘The woman was treated by medics from London Ambulance Service, but sadly she was pronounced dead at the scene.
‘Due to the threat posed, armed officers attended. After assessing the situation, officers were able to safely seize two dogs.
‘These were registered XL Bully dogs and prior to officers’ arrival had been contained inside a room in the house. They did not leave the house at any time during the incident.
‘The family of the woman, who was the owner of the dogs, are being supported by officers.’
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 1.09pm today (Monday) to reports of an incident in Cornwall Close, RM11.
Esther Martin, 68 (pictured)Â from Woodford Green, London, was mauled to death by two ‘unregistered’ XL Bully dogs in February
‘We sent resources to the scene including ambulance crews, an incident response officer and London’s air ambulance. We treated a person but sadly, despite our efforts, they were pronounced dead at the scene.’
The breed has developed a reputation in the UK for violence, with increasing numbers of reported dog attacks in Britain involving XL Bullys in recent years.
Last month a woman in Scotland was ‘seriously hurt’ after a bully-type dog attacked her in the street.
In April the inquest into the death of a father-of-five who was mauled to death by an XL Bully he was looking after on behalf of a friend heard he had the ‘worst injuries a trauma doctor had ever seen’.
And earlier this month a mother and son who allowed their XL Bully to wander free were jailed after it savagely attacked an eight-year-old boy.
Amanda Young, 49, and her son Lewis, 30, were keeping the dog in their small flat in Bootle, Merseyside at the time of the attack in February this year.
Amanda Young, 49, (pictured) and son Lewis, 30, were jailed after an XL Bully dog attacked an eight-year-old boy
Lewis Young (pictured), a delivery driver, bought the dog from a Facebook advert but failed to check whether it was a banned breed
Lewis, a delivery driver, bought the dog from a Facebook advert but failed to check whether it was a banned breed after new legislation came in at the beginning of the year.
He left the dog, called Snoop, in his mother’s charge but she allowed it to wander around outside the flat, while she sat drinking.
During this time the dog attacked a boy who had been on his way to play football with a friend, grabbing him by the head and neck, and violently shaking him.
Horrified neighbours valiantly tried to get the dog, which was seen ‘frothing at the mouth’ off the youngster as it ripped off his scalp during the attack on February 10, this year.
One bite fractured and pierced his skull and doctors feared at first it could have pierced his brain.
The boy was left with ‘significant and life-changing injuries’, with doctors warning he will have permanent scarring to his face and revealing that the viciousness of the attack meant they had been unable to re-attach his scalp and had to use skin grafts instead.
Lewis Young was jailed for two years and his mother was locked away for 20 months, while the dog was destroyed.
This latest attack comes after new rules were introduced in England and Wales requiring all people who own XL Bully dogs to have an exemption certificate from February 1.
The law, which was criticised heavily by lovers of the breed, makes it a criminal offence to own, breed or sell the animals without permission, and those who have the exemption need to neuter their dogs and have third-party liability insurance.
Campaigners are challenging the Government’s decision to ban the breed, with a case set to go to the High Court later this year.
XL bully owner Sophie Coulthard and campaign group Don’t Ban Me, Licence Me are taking legal action against the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) over the large bulldog-type American breed being added to a banned list under Dangerous Dog Act in October last year.
Campaigners argue that the ban is unlawful and irrational, claiming it was based on ‘unreliable’ material, lacked a ‘proper’ analysis over its impact and includes ‘vague’ standards that risked people unknowingly committing a criminal offence.
Government lawyers say the legal challenge should be dismissed and that campaigners’ arguments are ‘meritless’.
