‘Happy-go-lucky’ woman mauled to death by pet dog was planning to get married

A woman who was mauled to death by her pet dog had planned to get married, her devastated partner has revealed.

Emergency services were called to her property in Coventry on Monday afternoon after receiving calls that the victim, aged in her 30s, had been attacked.

Her partner Noel Spring, 50, named her to the MailOnline as Kelly Reilly and said that her dog had previously shown no signs of aggression and had lived with her for a “couple of months”.

The dog, understood to be a Bullmastiff, has been seized by West Midlands Police who said they did not believe the pet was a banned breed.

A GoFundMe has now been launched to raise money to cover her funeral costs, with her sister writing that she had a “big heart” that will be “sadly missed” by her family.

Speaking at his flat, where he is now looking after two kittens that Ms Reilly had recently rescued, Mr Spring said: “She was lovely. She was happy, smiley. She would do anything for anyone, she was always helping people out.”

He added that she had recently required hospital treatment twice following seizures and was currently unemployed due to her poor health.

“We were planning to get married. She was always walking around with a nice smile on her face, she was happy-go-lucky,” he said.

The couple had been in a relationship for around a year, with Ms Reilly staying over at his flat the night before the attack. He told MailOnline that she had only popped home briefly to clean, with him discovering her unresponsive a short while later.

A neighbour who also called the emergency services described the dog as “safe as anything”.

Chief Inspector David Amos, of the local neighbourhood policing area, said: “We understand that this is a distressing and tragic incident and we would like to thank the local community for their support and to our emergency services colleagues who dealt with this incident.

“Our thoughts remain firmly with the family and loved ones of the woman who has sadly died and we will be informing the coroner of her death.

“Although the breed of the dog is yet to be confirmed, at this stage we do not believe it to be of a banned breed. However, a full assessment will be required before we can confirm this.

Six months ago, The Independent revealed how the number of fatal dog attacks had surged to a record higher in the past two years with 16 deaths recorded in 2023, compared to six in 2022.

It comes just weeks after a seven-month-old baby mauled to death by her family’s pet dog in Coventry, after being bitten on the head.

Elle Doherty was pronounced dead at the scene while the dog, a Belgian Malinois, was detained and destroyed.