Dog that killed girl had been rescued as a stray

Lexi Branson died in hospital after being attacked by bulldog Mulan in the living room of her home in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire, on Tuesday.

Her mother Jodi Hudson frantically tried to pull the dog off her young daughter during the sustained attack and ended up stabbing the animal to death with a kitchen knife in the flat.

Lexi, who had been off school sick, was taken to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre but doctors were unable to save her following the unprovoked attack.

Police said the rescue dog had been with the family for two months after they got the animal from Willow Rehoming Centre in Barrow-upon-Soar, Leicestershire. The centre has a contract with Leicester City Council to provide kennelling for stray dogs.

In a statement, a council spokesman said: “This particular dog was picked up from a local park as a stray and handed over to the kennels in August.

“The police are notified of any dogs suspected of being dangerous or on the list of prohibited breeds, and these are not considered for rehoming.”

A spokesman for the centre said the dog had come from them but did not want to comment further, due to the investigation.

Police said the bulldog was not listed under the Dangerous Dog Act, and stressed officers were not treating the incident as a criminal investigation.

The history of the dog, which is thought to be aged six to eight years, is part of the inquiry.

The Dangerous Dogs Act, introduced in 1991 following a spate of serious attacks, specifically outlaws only the pit bull terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro breeds.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), said there were “no plans to change the list of banned breeds” despite other reforms being considered by Parliament.

In a statement, Ms Hudson and Lexi’s grandmother Kerry Hudson said: “Lexi was a bubbly, bright little girl. She fought for her life from the moment she was born as she was born three months prematurely. She will be sadly missed, she will be our shining star in the sky and she will never be forgotten.”