Dogs savaged schoolgirl to death at her friend’s house
A SCHOOLGIRL was savaged to death by four dogs yesterday as she ate lunch at a friend’s house.
It is thought the two Staffordshire bull terriers, a bull mastiff and an American bulldog went berserk as Jade Lomas-Anderson, 14, began eating a meat pie.
As they tried to grab the pie, they bit her throat and Jade, who was alone in the house, was unable to fight them off.
Police using riot shields stormed the house in Wigan, northwest England, before marksmen killed the snarling animals.
By the time officers reached Jade, she was dead, bleeding from bite marks all over her body.
Neighbours said she had been staying with her friend Kimberley Concannon for the first few days of the Easter holidays.
The dogs were owned by Kimberley’s mother, Beverley, who referred to them as ‘her babies’ although a sign on the house reads: ‘Beware of the Dog… enter at your own risk’.
Neighbours said Jade’s horrific death was a ‘tragedy waiting to happen’ and that the dogs growled at anyone who came near the terraced house.
One resident said: ‘The dogs were really scary – Staffies and bull mastiffs. Jade knew these animals so I don’t know why they all went for her. These animals were a menace and everyone was scared of them. It is shocking.’
Another neighbour said: ‘We heard the dogs went for her as she tried to eat the pie. She tried to fend one of the animals off but apparently it went berserk and went for her throat. Apparently she was then overwhelmed by the animals inside the house.’
One of Jade’s friends said: ‘At least two of the other dogs joined in and started biting her legs.’
Police were called after reports that the teenager had been seen lying unconscious in a downstairs room.
When officers arrived, they found four dogs rampaging out of control around the property. Armed police had to shoot the dogs so officers could get in. Despite attempts to resuscitate Jade, she was later pronounced dead.
Police said Jade’s injuries ‘were consistent with her having been attacked by dogs’.