Neighbours’ vain fight to save mum as dogs savage her to death
A MOTHER-OF-THREE was mauled to death by her two dogs at home while horrified neighbours desperately tried to distract them.
Elayne Stanley, 44, was set upon by the Mastiff-type dogs as her daughter ran across the road, screaming: “The dogs are attacking mum.”
Residents reported hearing “terrible screams” and someone shouting for towels during the attack on Tuesday evening.
Paramedics tried to save her and an air ambulance was scrambled but she was pronounced dead at the scene in Widnes, Cheshire.
One of the dogs, named DJ, was shot dead by armed police officers, while the other, Billy, was taken away.
Elayne was mother to three daughters – Louise, 21, and 12-year-old twins Emma and Chloe.
Her long-time friend Bev Hall, 39, told how she and her partner Jay attempted to distract the frenzied dogs during the attack but Elayne bled to death from her injuries in the living room.
Bev, who lives opposite, said: “Elayne was at home with her daughters, she was arguing with a daughter. We were here putting the tea on and the next thing her daughter Louise Sign in the window of victim’s house
runs in screaming for help, saying, ‘The dogs are attacking mum’.
“We both dropped everything and ran over bare-footed. The living room door was closed and Elayne was behind it so we couldn’t get in.
“I could hear a dog growling and scratching. We threw all sorts and banged on the windows to try and distract the dogs.
“Then the police were called and my partner and a couple of the neighbours started throwing bricks at the dogs from the side door.
“Once the dogs were in the back garden my partner locked them out. By the time the paramedics came, there was nothing they could do.
“She had the dogs for two or three years. I have never known those dogs to be violent. My kids have slept on those dogs and used them as pillows. I can’t believe it.
“They used to bark when you went in and Elayne had started shutting her curtains because they would bark when people went past but I have never known the dogs to act that way.” In a Facebook post, Elayne had written that the dogs had previously become “p ***** off” when she wouldn’t let them play with one of her children’s teddy bears.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “They always seemed like they were nice enough dogs, they were never out of control.”
Marie Airey, who also lives nearby, said she heard screaming and yelling before police arrived.
She added: “I never used to hear the dogs barking. It’s so sad. Elayne was only little and thin. She must have been eight stone.
“With two big dogs she didn’t stand a chance.”
Another neighbour said: “I heard it all kick off.The screams were terrible. I heard someone shout, ‘Get towels, get an ambulance.’ All hell broke loose. Those poor kids. I’ve got a 10-year-old daughter who has stroked Billy. She’s been for sleepovers.”
A Cheshire Police spokesman said: “Sadly, despite the best efforts of all those involved, the woman died at the scene.
“Following the attack, repeated attempts were made by officers to safely secure the two dogs in order to remove them from the address.
“One was safely detained. However, officers were unable to secure the second dog so, in the interests of public safety, the dog was destroyed.”
Flowers were laid outside the house yesterday in tribute to Elayne.