A woman, who was mauled to death by an aggressive Bull Terrier she had only just rescued weeks before, was determined to change its behaviour, according to a friend.
The dog was only one-years-old yet inflicted multiple fatal injuries to his owner, including several deep bites which left gashes in her neck, skull, shoulders and right wrist.
Ambulances and animal protection services rushed to the scene in January this year and attempted CPR on owner Natasha, which was futile.
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Eighteen members of the public witnessed the attack, which took place at Gravelly Hill, a quiet area of woodlands near Caterham, Surrey.
Natasha was walking eight dogs at the time.
Once the police arrived, they found the dog, named Stan, covered in blood and standing next to Natasha.
Friends of Natasha came forward to say that despite her good nature, she shouldn’t have taken Stan in stating his previous owners were looking to get rid of him due to him biting one of their children.
Her friend Delia Lewis, 38, whose own dog Shiva was among the eight being walked by Natasha, said she thought she could "train" Stan.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ms Lewis: "She felt Stan hadn't been trained and with the correct care and affection he'd be fine.
"Her boyfriend said it wasn't a good idea and, having seen how troublesome Stan could be, my response was, 'Are you sure?' But she loved dogs with a passion and she was still grieving for her black staffy, Missy, who had recently died, so she didn't take our advice."
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Stan had reportedly bitten Natasha a couple of times before the fatal attack, the most recent of all requiring a bandage.
The vet told the Daily Mail that Stan should have been "rehabilitated on a one-to-one basis" and that it was foolish to socialise him with other dogs.
Eight months later since the attack took place, there still hasn’t been a conclusion as to what caused Natasha’s death. With the recent attention of American XL bully dog attacks, people are reconsidering Natasha’s case.
Originally, Stan was identified as an American XL Bully, which originally set off the nickname of ‘Devil Dog ’ and caused public outcry for the breed to be banned.
While later it has been revealed that Stan was a Bull Terrier, it appears that the lingering shock of this savage death is still influencing the safe dog debate today.
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Stan has spent the last seven months in a specialist kennel, away from the public awaiting the result of the investigation.
Ms Lewis' dog Shiva was also taken away after the incident but was returned in July, according to the Daily Mail.
She added: "Our dogs are on death row. The police said if there was any indication they had bitten Natasha, even if the bite wasn't fatal, they would be put down.
"Still, they made us feel our dogs were murder suspects and wouldn't even let us visit them, I assume in case we tried to free them. It has been an absolute nightmare. Even humans accused of murder are permitted to have visitors."
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