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A woman died after trying to stop her two dogs fighting over a chicken nugget, an inquest has heard.
Michelle Hempstead, 34, died hours after a single bite from her dog at her flat in Southend-on-Sea in July 2024.
Essex Coroner’s Court heard how Samuel West, Ms Hempstead’s partner who witnessed the incident, told police she got “caught in the crossfire” after throwing the McDonald’s chicken nugget in the air for her pomeranian and rottweiler-mastiff crossbreed, who went to snap at the smaller dog.
Ms Hempstead was bitten around her left armpit and upper arm, which severed an artery and a vein, and she went on to suffer multi-organ failure, the inquest was told.
The rottweiler-mastiff cross known as Trigg was seized and destroyed after the incident. The inquest heard the bite was “not malicious”.
Mr West described Trigg as “docile”, saying he “loved [Ms Hempstead] to death, and didn’t have a bad bone in his body”.
“You didn’t have to worry about him with anything, he wasn’t vicious in any way, shape or form,” he told the court, adding that Ms Hempstead occasionally fed Trigg food from her mouth.
BBC News
