A 21-year-old British woman was tragically mauled to death by a dog that was bought to help with her mental health. Keira Ladlow from Birmingham was found face down in the living room of her brother’s home with the Staffordshire bull cross terrier “cowering in the corner,” according to BBC News. Her brother, Kayden Barrett, said that he feels a “terrible sense of guilt” even though the dog had never given him any reason to believe it was aggressive or dangerous.
- She’d been staying with her brother due to her mental health difficulties. After being diagnosed with emotional unstable personality disorder and prescribed an antidepressant to help with her anxiety, Keira’s brother took Gucci in upon hearing he was being given away as he believed it would help his sister’s mood. He said the dog had “settled in” and bonded with both him and his sister and the dog spent most of his time with Keira, who was furloughed from her job.
- The dog had bitten one of the owner’s other dogs. However, Barrett insisted that there was no indication that the dog would attack himself or Keira.
- Keira had a feeling the dog would turn on her. The night before she died, Keira told her brother that she felt like Gucci was going to bite her, but he dismissed her concerns as he saw no signs this would happen and he believed that she had perhaps forgotten to take her medication. When he left the house, the dog was asleep in bed with Keira.
- When he got home later that afternoon, she was dead. Barrett said he returned home that same day at around 2 p.m. to find water pouring through the ceiling from the shower and his “lifeless” sister on the floor “covered in blood.” He immediately called police, but Keira couldn’t be saved.
- Sadly, the dog had to be euthanized. West Midlands Police confirmed that neighbors heard someone running up the stairs and the dog barking at about 11 a.m. that morning, thereby confirming Barrett’s version of events. Sadly, Gucci had to be humanely destroyed.
