Hong Kong woman, 33, dies after being mauled by dog at Ta Kwu Ling animal shelter

A Hong Kong woman was found dead at a licensed animal shelter in Ta Kwu Ling on Thursday after she was mauled by a dog, adding to a string of attacks this week involving canines.

Police said on Thursday night that a 33-year-old woman was found dead at the animal shelter in Ping Yeung Village, Ta Kwu Ling, earlier in the day. CCTV footage showed that she was attacked by a one-metre-long mongrel dog after feeding the animal.

“The deceased had various degrees of lacerations on the head, jaw, neck, and arms, and bite marks caused by an animal,” Assistant District Commander Matthew Chan told a press briefing in Cantonese.

Chan said police received a call at around 4 pm reporting that a woman was lying unconscious on the lawn at the animal shelter, which also operates as a canine training centre. It opened in January.

Autopsy under way

CCTV footage showed that, at around 2 pm, the woman fed the dog and tried to lead it into a cage, but it refused to enter and attacked the woman, Chan said. The attack lasted about a minute.

The dog is a one-year-old male brought to the shelter by volunteers on August 11 to await adoption, Chan said.

An autopsy is under way to determine the cause of death, Chan said, adding that the dog will be examined by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD).

The woman was the licensed people-in-charge of the premises and the only one working there when the attack took place, Chan said.

Six other dogs were in the shelter at the time of the attack but they were all caged, Chan added.

The incident comes after a large dog attacked two smaller dogs in Yuen Long earlier this week, killing both.

In the aftermath of this incident, the dog owner was arrested on suspicion of contravening the city’s Dangerous Dogs Regulation, while the canine – a 60-kilogram mixed-breed Spanish Mastiff – has been kept in AFCD custody.

Separately, a large leashed dog bit a 53-year-old man on the right leg in Shek O on Tuesday, and a 44-year-old woman was also injured by an unleashed dog at Jardine’s Lookout on Thursday, according to local media.