World News | British four-year-old boy killed by pet dog

LONDON, Feb. 1 (PTI) – A four-year-old girl has died in Britain after being attacked by her family’s pet dog, the second such death this month, media reported on Wednesday.

Alice Stones was attacked in her back garden on Tuesday by a dog that her family reportedly bought in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, six weeks ago, The Sun reported on Wednesday .

Read also | Philippines Earthquake: 6.0-magnitude quake hits Babag.

Police were called to the scene shortly after the attack, but the girl was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fearing the dog would flee, police evacuated neighbors before shooting it inside the house.

Read also | Authorities in Singapore have detained an 18-year-old Islamic State supporter who planned to attack military camps and cemeteries.

Superintendent Matt Blevant of Thames Valley Police said: “The decision to destroy the dog was taken earlier this evening as a humane decision to ensure public safety.”

“I want to reassure people that there is no reason to believe there is any danger to the wider public,” the report quoted him as saying.

“They (the family) kept the dog for about six weeks, maybe longer, maybe six to eight weeks,” the report quoted a neighbor as saying.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak offered his condolences to the families of the victims during Prime Minister’s Questions and thanked emergency services for their “swift and professional” response.

Neighbor Rita Matthews said she would have seen the girl while taking her own daughter to school.

She was quoted by the BBC as saying: “I knew the girl. It was so sad to hear the news.”

Stone’s grandfather paid tribute to her on Wednesday, saying: “We just want to come to terms with what has happened. It’s horrible.”

Dog walker Natasha Johnston died at the scene when she was attacked while walking her dog at a popular Surrey location on January 12, while another woman was taken to hospital with dog bites, the BBC reported .

An inquest heard Johnston, 28, died from “multiple dog bites to the neck,” the report said.

Coroner Simon Wickens said Johnston, who was not licensed to walk her dog in the area where she was attacked, suffered “traumatic trauma”.

Police seized eight dogs at the scene.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)