Friends pay tribute to woman killed by 'her four-legged child'
Friends and family are mourning a woman who was mauled to death by her French bulldog.
A friend found Lisa Urso, 52, unresponsive on the patio behind her Ingleside home in the US state of Illinois, on the evening of May 9.
Lake County Coroner Dr Howard Cooper said Ms Urso had recently adopted the dog, which had been bred to fight. The dog attacked Ms Urso inside her home, but she made it out to her patio, where she died.
Dr Cooper said Ms Urso suffered many bite wounds and scratches on her legs, arms and torso.
A final autopsy is still pending.
Ms Urso’s friend Jayne Petty told CNN the 52-year-old “was an amazing soul”.
"She put her animals above everyone and called them her 'four legged children',” Ms Petty told CNN.
Robin Van Sickle, program manager at the Lake County Animal Care and Control centre, told CNN there was nothing that suggested Ms Urso’s home was anything but typically “pet friendly”.
Ms Urso owned three dogs but it’s believed Blue, a French bulldog-mix, is the one who killed her.
Lake County Police Commander Dawn Deservi said Blue was known to authorities as he had bitten Ms Urso’s boyfriend twice – once on April 13 and again on April 21.
The second time he was kept in a kennel for 10 days but Ms Van Sickle said Blue didn’t show any aggression.
She added because both bites occurred at home, there wasn’t a concern for public safety and Blue was allowed to return to Ms Urso on April 30.
Dr Cooper told ABC 7, Blue weighed 24kg.
"A lot of people are thinking that this was a very small dog, and people don't understand, this dog weighed 55 pounds (24kg)," he said.
"It's still a substantial size dog."
Blue was put down on May 19 while the other two dogs will be re-homed.
with Associated Press
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