Woman in her thirties dies after being mauled by pet dog

A woman in her 30s has died after being attacked by a dog at a house in Coventry.

Emergency services were called to the property in the Wood End area of the city on Monday afternoon where they found the woman in a critical condition.

The victim was removed from the property by police and ambulance workers but she was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

The dog that carried out the attack has been seized by West Midlands police. The force said it did not believe that the dog was a banned breed, although a full assessment is yet to be carried out. Nobody else was injured in the incident.

The mauling is understood to be the fourth fatal dog attack in the UK this year, following a record number of incidents in 2023, when at least eight people died from dog bites. There were an average of three deaths a year from 2001 to 2021.

Authorities were called to the property on Wexford Road after a suspected dog attack was reported just after midday.

An ambulance arrived at the scene within six minutes, with two air ambulances landing on a nearby green space shortly after.

A West Midlands ambulance service spokeswoman said: “Ambulance staff arrived with police officers to find a woman inside a property in a critical condition.

“With help from police, the woman was rapidly removed from the property due to safety concerns. Ambulance staff performed advanced life support but tragically, despite their best efforts, nothing could be done to save the woman and she was confirmed dead on scene a short time later.”

Chief Inspector David Amos, of the local neighbourhood policing area, said: “We understand that this is a distressing and tragic incident and we would like to thank the local community for their support and to our emergency services colleagues who dealt with this incident.

“Our thoughts remain firmly with the family and loved ones of the woman who has sadly died and we will be informing the coroner of her death.

“Although the breed of the dog is yet to be confirmed, at this stage we do not believe it to be of a banned breed. However, a full assessment will be required before we can confirm this.

West Midlands police said that the woman’s family had been informed.