‘Nevermind the dogs’: Tragic sign outside home where woman was mauled to death by her own XL bullies
A sticker on the front door of a home where a woman was killed in an attack by her two XL Bully dogs warned “never mind the dogs”.
Underneath the opening text, the message jokingly added: “Beware of the kids”.
The tragic sticker was spotted at the semi-detached home in Cornwall Close, in Hornchurch, east London, where a woman was mauled to death by her two registered XL Bully dogs shortly after 1pm on Monday. Armed police were called to the incident, with a cordon remaining outside the home with a blue forensic tent on Tuesday morning.
Neighbours have said they were told to stay indoors out of respect before being evacuated from the scene by police following the tragedy.
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One man, who asked to remain anonymous, was sat in his garden when police arrived. He said: “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.”
Another woman said she saw paramedics attempting to resuscitate the victim in her front garden.
Police said the woman was pronounced dead at the scene and the two registered dogs were seized after being contained in a room.
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Her family are being supported by officers, said a spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police, who also confirmed the victim was the owner of the dogs.
From February 1, it became a criminal offence 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. Latest figures from Defra show more than 55,000 XL Bullly dogs were registered.
The government move to ban XL bullies followed a series of attacks on people, with 16 deaths by dog bites recorded in 2023, more than double the six fatalities in 2022.
However, campaigners, including families of XL Bully victims, believe a ban on a breed will not solve the rise in incidents.
