Woman in 30s killed by her pet dog in Coventry

A woman in her 30s has been killed by her pet dog in Coventry, the fourth fatal dog attack in England and Wales this year.

West Midlands police said they attended at house on Wexford Road in the city at about 12.15pm on Monday after 999 calls. The woman was treated by the ambulance service at the scene but died a short time later.

The dog has been seized and its breed has yet to be confirmed, but police said they did not believe it to be a banned breed. The family of the woman have been informed and the death has been reported to the coroner for further inquiries.

Ch Insp David Amos, from the local neighbourhood policing area, said: “We understand that this is a distressing and tragic incident and we would like to thank the local community for their support and to our emergency services colleagues who dealt with this incident. Our thoughts remain firmly with the family and loved ones of the woman who has sadly died.

“Although the breed of the dog is yet to be confirmed, at this stage we do not believe it to be of a banned breed. However, a full assessment will be required before we can confirm this.”

West Midlands ambulance service said its first ambulance arrived at the property within six minutes of a 999 call, and found the woman in a critical condition.

A spokesperson said: “With help from police, the woman was rapidly removed from the property due to safety concerns. Ambulance staff performed advanced life support but tragically, despite their best efforts, nothing could be done to save the woman and she was confirmed dead on scene a short time later. No one else was injured in the incident.”

The death comes just over a month after seven-month-old Elle Doherty died in Coventry after being bitten by her family’s pet dog. She received serious injuries to her head in the incident on 16 June, which police said involved no criminal offences. The dog was a Belgian malinois, which is not a banned breed, and was humanely destroyed.

The death of the woman on Monday was the fourth fatal dog attack in the UK in 2024, after a record 16 deaths in 2023 – up from six in 2022, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

Many of the recent deaths have involved the American XL bully breed, which was added to the list of banned breeds in England and Wales at the start of the year. They were banned in Scotland from 1 August.

Animal organisations including the RSPCA and Blue Cross have argued that banning breeds does not improve public safety, and that dog attacks have increased year-on-year despite banned breeds.