The dog, believed to be a French bull¹ mastiff（獒）, 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 spokesman² said the youngster³ 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 previously⁴ and could not understand why it had apparently⁵ 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.

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