A gran was brutally mauled to death by a pack of 'out of control' bulldogs as she got ready to collect her grandson from school. Ann Dunn, 65, was pronounced dead at her home in Vauxhall, Liverpool, after the family received a call to say that no-one had arrived to pick up the young boy.
According to the Mirror, neighbours also alerted police after hearing a woman screaming at roughly 4pm on Monday. Five American bulldogs were seized by officers at the property on St Brigids Crescent and humanely destroyed, Merseyside police confirmed.
A 31-year-old man has also been arrested on suspicion of owning a dog dangerously out of control and is being questioned by investigators. One neighbour described Ann, who worked as a cleaner, as the “loveliest person”. The resident, who did not wish to be identified, said: “She was lovely, really funny, such a happy girl.
She said: “She was lovely, really funny, such a happy girl.
“She had not long ago been on holiday with her daughter. She was meant to be picking up her grandson from school and it was only when the school got in touch with his mum to say (he) was still there and no one had come for him that they realised something was wrong.
“She had gone in to put her bags down and the dogs attacked her, she tried to shut the door but she fell. When I found out I was so upset. I couldn’t sleep that night, I was laid awake thinking about what state she must have been in when they found her.
"It’s awful and so sad. I used to see her walking to work, no matter the weather, come rain or shine she’d always walk down and never missed a day.”
Neighbours said the family had been breeding dogs, including XL Bullys, ‘for years’. Another resident who paid tribute to the grandmother of one and mum-of-two, said she never failed to say ‘hello’ and added: “She always used to stop and chat and she was always smiling.
“She was a lovely woman. The first thing I saw was a load of people gathered at the end of the crescent talking to each other on the phone.
“Then all the police turned up with the fire engines. When I found out it was Ann who had been attacked I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it.”
She said she’d lived in the area for 38 years and had started to see more and more “vicious and nasty looking dogs". Data released by NHS England in May showed that two areas of Merseyside fell into the top five areas with the highest incidences of dog attacks.
Another young woman who lives close by to the scene said she had seen an explosion in the number of Bully type breeds in the area in the last three years. She said: “There’s a lot of breeders in the area, it’s very common, everyone is breeding dogs now.
“Even in the last three years or so there’s been a big increase in the number of Bully type dogs in the area and they are scary to be fair. You just know they shouldn’t be bred in back gardens, even on Instagram there’s loads of kennels popping up.”
In a tribute, Kate Burke, said: “RIP gorgeous lady, still can’t believe it Ann...”
Liverpool John Moores University, where Ann worked as a cleaner at their Scotland Road campus also paid tribute. A spokesman for the university said: “The university community is absolutely shocked and devastated by this tragic loss and to lose Ann in this way is just heart-breaking.
"Ann was hard-working and dedicated and had so many friends across the organisation. It’s just awful and she will be terribly missed. Our thoughts at this time are with her family and loved-ones.”
Detective Inspector Katie Coote said: “This is clearly a very distressing incident and our thoughts are with the family and friends of the lady who died.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
