Family dog fatally mauls woman
Man finds wife dead, killed by recently adopted rescue
A Las Vegas man came home from work Monday night to find his wife of 26 years mauled to death by the family’s newly adopted dog.
What happened moments before the attack remained unknown Friday. Susan Sweeney, 58, was home alone when their 3-year-old rescue dog attacked her in the 5000 block of River Splash Avenue, Las Vegas spokesman David Riggleman said.
The woman’s husband, Patrick, arrived home from work shortly before 11:40 p.m. Monday and found her dead in their living room, according to the Metropolitan Police Department and the Clark County coroner’s office.
She was declared dead about 1:05 a.m. Tuesday in the home.
The coroner’s office ruled her death an accident by mauling.
“This is really a mystery because she was home alone,” Riggleman said Friday. “I can’t even imagine what that poor man thought when he walked in that house.”
The spokesman said the mastiff-perro de Presa Canario mix was taken by city of Las Vegas animal control and was euthanized at the request of the Sweeney family. The dog had been adopted a few days before the attack
MAULING
from the Animal Foundation.
In a statement released Friday, the nonprofit said: “The Animal Foundation did not have any information regarding the dog’s prior circumstances that would have led us to believe that he was unsafe, and while this dog was in our care, his behavior did not raise any concerns. There are no words that can appropriately convey the deep sadness felt by The Animal Foundation. Our sympathies, thoughts, and prayers are with this woman’s family in the wake of their heartbreaking loss.”
Another family dog, Sinba, died in early September, Patrick Sweeney announced in a post Sept. 6.
On Friday morning, he wrote on