Woman dies following Widnes dog attack

A woman has died after two dogs attacked her at an address on Graham Road in Widnes.

At around 5.15pm on Tuesday 24 September Cheshire Police received reports that a 44-year-old woman had been attacked. Officers attended the property and discovered that the woman was in a serious condition.

The police said that “sadly”, despite the best efforts of all those involved, the woman died at the scene. Her next of kin have been informed and are being supported by officers.

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.

Attempts were made to tranquilise the second dog but this was unsuccessful so, in the interests of public safety, the dog was destroyed. The other dog remains in a secure kennel.

Detective inspector Ian Whiley said: “We understand that people in the local community will be concerned when they hear about what has happened.

“But I would like to reassure residents that we are doing all that we can to establish the full circumstances of the incident.”

He added: “However, at this stage, it is believed that the dogs were known to the woman and were living at the address. This has been an extremely distressing incident and our thoughts are with the woman’s family at this difficult time.”