A four-year-old mauled to death by a pet dog has been described by neighbours as a happy, sweet little girl.

The dog, believed to be a French bull mastiff, was the family's pet and was from a rescue home, according to neighbours.

The girl, named locally as Lexi, lived with her mother Jodi Hudson, who, according to reports, stabbed the dog as she tried in vain to save her daughter.

Police said the animal died shortly after the attack, which happened just after noon on Tuesday in Rowena Court in t Mountsorrell, between Loughborough and Leicester.

Leicestershire police said officers were called to a flat in the street at about 12.15pm following a report of a young girl being attacked by a dog.

A spokesman said the youngster was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where she died.

Glennis Goddard, who has lived in the quiet cul-de-sac of small blocks of flats for 27 years, said: "Their pet dog has attacked a little girl, Lexi. It's a terrible shock.She was a sweet little thing and used to run round here on a bike and knock on my windows. She used to play with our cats, outside. She wasn't very big, only a little thin thing."

Goddard said the dog had been no trouble at all previously and could not understand why it had apparently turned. She said she had been stroking the dog just two days ago after seeing it out with Hudson. She described the dog as being "a mastiff-type".

Arthur Nash, another neighbour, said: "Everybody is in shock at the moment with her dying. When I saw an ambulance pull up I thought it was an old lady on the court who had had a heart attack, and then the neighbour came up and said she had been killed by the dog. We're in shock.

Gloria Longmire, a secretary at Mountsorrel Methodist church, regularly walks her dogs up nearby Cross Lane. She said: "It's tragic, it is really tragic. I would say we do have a strong community here and people will be absolutely horrified, and it's dreadful that it's a family pet."

Paul Ryan, a friend of the family, said they had had the dog for only two months after picking it up from a local rescue centre. He said Hudson was "in hysterics" after the attack and she kept saying she had been told the dog was safe around children, the Daily Mirror reported.

Ryan said: "Apparently it suddenly turned on Lexi for no reason. She was in bed sleeping with her mum and it came in and just went mental. It grabbed Lexi and wouldn't let go. Jodi was screaming and trying to pull its head away but it wouldn't give in. In the end she had to use a knife to release its jaw. It must have been absolutely terrifying."

Melanie Wright, an East Midlands ambulance service spokesman, said a 999 call had been been received at 12.05pm reporting an injured child who had been attacked by a dog.

She said: "We responded by dispatching clinicians in two fast response cars, a double crewed ambulance and the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland air ambulance. We also informed Leicestershire police.

"The child was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham where, tragically, she has since died.

This was a very distressing 999 call for all concerned and we are providing support to our colleagues who responded."

It is not believed the dog was a breed listed under section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act.

據(jù)英國《衛(wèi)報》報道，一個被鄰居公認為快樂、可愛的4歲小女孩被家中的寵物狗咬死。

他們的鄰居稱，肇事狗是一條體型碩大的法國斗牛獒犬，是這個家庭從救助中心領(lǐng)養(yǎng)來的寵物。

這名叫萊克斯的女孩與她的母親朱迪·哈德森住在一起。據(jù)報道，當(dāng)萊克斯被襲擊時，朱迪試圖刺死寵物狗，但也無能為力。

警方表示，11月5日周二午后的襲擊事件發(fā)生在拉夫伯勒和萊斯特之間的羅威那法院地區(qū)，寵物狗在發(fā)起襲擊后不久被刺死亡。

萊斯特郡警方表示，在接到女孩被狗襲擊的報警后，立即部署警力，在中午12時15分趕往事發(fā)公寓。

新聞發(fā)言人表示，小女孩萊克斯隨后被送往諾丁漢的皇后醫(yī)療中心，但最終不治身亡。

在該街區(qū)巷末居住長達27年的鄰居格萊尼斯·戈達德說：“寵物狗襲擊了小女孩萊克斯，這真是一件令人震驚的事。她很可愛，常常騎車在周圍兜圈，并不時敲擊我的窗戶。她常在外面與我們的貓咪玩耍，她是一個很瘦弱的小女孩�！�

戈達德說，這條狗之前一直很乖，她不明白為什么這種事突然發(fā)生。兩天前，她還看到哈德森與寵物狗一起外出時撫摸它。她形容這條狗屬于“獒犬”。

另一位鄰居亞瑟·納什說：“每個人對小女孩的死亡都感到十分震驚。起初當(dāng)我看到救護車時，以為車上是法庭中心臟病突發(fā)的老婦人。隨后鄰居告訴我說萊克斯被寵物狗咬死。我們都很震驚�！�

當(dāng)?shù)匦l(wèi)理公會秘書凱萊·朗邁爾經(jīng)常在十字巷遛狗。她說：“這真是一場悲劇，十足的悲劇。我可以肯定我們的社區(qū)很團結(jié)，人們會很震驚，可怕的是傷人的是一條寵物犬�！�

據(jù)《每日鏡報》報道，哈德森的好友保羅·瑞恩表示，這條狗是兩月前萊克斯的媽媽從當(dāng)?shù)鼐戎�中心領(lǐng)養(yǎng)的。他說在女兒受到攻擊后，哈德森變得“歇斯底里”，不停重復(fù)說救助中心的人告訴她這條狗跟小孩在一起很安全。

瑞恩說：“很明顯它突然毫無征兆地向萊克斯發(fā)動攻擊，當(dāng)時萊克斯正和她母親在床上睡覺，它沖進來，瘋了一般咬住萊克斯不松口。哈德森大吼并試圖將它的頭推到一邊，但狗死不放松，最后她不得不用刀讓它松口。當(dāng)時場面肯定非常恐怖�！�

東米德蘭救護車服務(wù)發(fā)言人梅拉妮·賴特表示，當(dāng)天中午12時05分接到999急救電話，稱有一名孩子被狗襲擊受傷。

她說：“我們反應(yīng)迅速，立即派遣臨床醫(yī)生搭乘兩輛快速救護車、一輛有雙倍醫(yī)護人員的救護車以及德比、萊斯特和拉特蘭的空中救護車趕往現(xiàn)場。我們還通知了萊斯特郡警方�！�

“小女孩被帶到在諾丁漢女王醫(yī)學(xué)中心進行治療，但不幸的是，沒能挽救她的生命�！�

“對于所有關(guān)心這件事的人而言，這是一通令人心痛的急救電話，并且我們?yōu)閷嵤┚戎�的同事提供了幫助�！?/SPAN>

令人難以置信的是，這只狗的品種被列為《危險犬只法案》第一節(jié)中。