A woman was killed and a man suffered life-threatening injuries in a dog attack near Rotherham, police said.
The 43-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene after police were called to a property in the village of West Melton at 10.15pm on Friday night.
The 42-year-old man was rushed to hospital with injuries to his arm, face and abdomen.
Two dogs were seized and removed from the property.
It is not clear what breed they are, although South Yorkshire Police said none of them are considered a prohibited breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act. No arrests are believed to have been made.
A police statement said: “We were called to a property on Masefield Road in West Melton at around 10.15pm last night by a member of the public who said a dog had attacked himself and a woman.
“Officers were joined by a Yorkshire Ambulance crew and found a 42-year-old man with a potentially life-threatening injury to one arm, plus injuries to the other arm, abdomen and face. He was transported to a hospital for further treatment.
“The woman, aged 43, was fatally bitten and despite the best efforts of emergency crews, she was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
“The dog, as well as another dog on the property, was secured by specially trained officers. Neither dog was of a prohibited breed.
The incident is just the latest in a series of fatal attacks this year that have numbered at least six and include a three-month-old baby mauled to death by a husky in Lincolnshire, a three-year-old boy killed by a cane corso near Rochdale and a 62-year-old man who died after being assaulted by his daughter-in-law’s bully XL.
In March this year alone, animal experts and vets told The Independent that the UK was witnessing so many serious dog attacks – around 9,000 hospital admissions each year – that it represented an unrecognized public health crisis.
“There may be this tendency to reject it [dog bites] almost like a cartoon,” said Dr Carrie Westgarth, a lecturer in human-animal interaction at the University of Liverpool. “But the physical and mental effects can be absolutely devastating for those involved.”
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