A four-year-old mauled to death by a pet dog has been described by neighbours as a happy, sweet little girl.

The dog, believed to be a French bull mastiff, was the family's pet and was from a rescue home, according to neighbours.

The girl, named locally as Lexi, lived with her mother Jodi Hudson, who, according to reports, stabbed the dog as she tried in vain to save her daughter.

Police said the animal died shortly after the attack, which happened just after noon on Tuesday in Rowena Court in t Mountsorrell, between Loughborough and Leicester.

Leicestershire police said officers were called to a flat in the street at about 12.15pm following a report of a young girl being attacked by a dog.

A spokesman said the youngster was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where she died.

Glennis Goddard, who has lived in the quiet cul-de-sac of small blocks of flats for 27 years, said: "Their pet dog has attacked a little girl, Lexi. It's a terrible shock.She was a sweet little thing and used to run round here on a bike and knock on my windows. She used to play with our cats, outside. She wasn't very big, only a little thin thing."

Goddard said the dog had been no trouble at all previously and could not understand why it had apparently turned. She said she had been stroking the dog just two days ago after seeing it out with Hudson. She described the dog as being "a mastiff-type".

Arthur Nash, another neighbour, said: "Everybody is in shock at the moment with her dying. When I saw an ambulance pull up I thought it was an old lady on the court who had had a heart attack, and then the neighbour came up and said she had been killed by the dog. We're in shock.

Gloria Longmire, a secretary at Mountsorrel Methodist church, regularly walks her dogs up nearby Cross Lane. She said: "It's tragic, it is really tragic. I would say we do have a strong community here and people will be absolutely horrified, and it's dreadful that it's a family pet."

Paul Ryan, a friend of the family, said they had had the dog for only two months after picking it up from a local rescue centre. He said Hudson was "in hysterics" after the attack and she kept saying she had been told the dog was safe around children, the Daily Mirror reported.

Ryan said: "Apparently it suddenly turned on Lexi for no reason. She was in bed sleeping with her mum and it came in and just went mental. It grabbed Lexi and wouldn't let go. Jodi was screaming and trying to pull its head away but it wouldn't give in. In the end she had to use a knife to release its jaw. It must have been absolutely terrifying."

Melanie Wright, an East Midlands ambulance service spokesman, said a 999 call had been been received at 12.05pm reporting an injured child who had been attacked by a dog.

She said: "We responded by dispatching clinicians in two fast response cars, a double crewed ambulance and the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland air ambulance. We also informed Leicestershire police.

"The child was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham where, tragically, she has since died.

This was a very distressing 999 call for all concerned and we are providing support to our colleagues who responded."

It is not believed the dog was a breed listed under section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act.

据英国《卫报》报道，一个被邻居公认为快乐、可爱的4岁小女孩被家中的宠物狗咬死。

他们的邻居称，肇事狗是一条体型硕大的法国斗牛獒犬，是这个家庭从救助中心领养来的宠物。

这名叫莱克斯的女孩与她的母亲朱迪·哈德森住在一起。据报道，当莱克斯被袭击时，朱迪试图刺死宠物狗，但也无能为力。

警方表示，11月5日周二午后的袭击事件发生在拉夫伯勒和莱斯特之间的罗威那法院地区，宠物狗在发起袭击后不久被刺死亡。

莱斯特郡警方表示，在接到女孩被狗袭击的报警后，立即部署警力，在中午12时15分赶往事发公寓。

新闻发言人表示，小女孩莱克斯随后被送往诺丁汉的皇后医疗中心，但最终不治身亡。

在该街区巷末居住长达27年的邻居格莱尼斯·戈达德说：“宠物狗袭击了小女孩莱克斯，这真是一件令人震惊的事。她很可爱，常常骑车在周围兜圈，并不时敲击我的窗户。她常在外面与我们的猫咪玩耍，她是一个很瘦弱的小女孩。”

戈达德说，这条狗之前一直很乖，她不明白为什么这种事突然发生。两天前，她还看到哈德森与宠物狗一起外出时抚摸它。她形容这条狗属于“獒犬”。

另一位邻居亚瑟·纳什说：“每个人对小女孩的死亡都感到十分震惊。起初当我看到救护车时，以为车上是法庭中心脏病突发的老妇人。随后邻居告诉我说莱克斯被宠物狗咬死。我们都很震惊。”

当地卫理公会秘书凯莱·朗迈尔经常在十字巷遛狗。她说：“这真是一场悲剧，十足的悲剧。我可以肯定我们的社区很团结，人们会很震惊，可怕的是伤人的是一条宠物犬。”

据《每日镜报》报道，哈德森的好友保罗·瑞恩表示，这条狗是两月前莱克斯的妈妈从当地救助中心领养的。他说在女儿受到攻击后，哈德森变得“歇斯底里”，不停重复说救助中心的人告诉她这条狗跟小孩在一起很安全。

瑞恩说：“很明显它突然毫无征兆地向莱克斯发动攻击，当时莱克斯正和她母亲在床上睡觉，它冲进来，疯了一般咬住莱克斯不松口。哈德森大吼并试图将它的头推到一边，但狗死不放松，最后她不得不用刀让它松口。当时场面肯定非常恐怖。”

东米德兰救护车服务发言人梅拉妮·赖特表示，当天中午12时05分接到999急救电话，称有一名孩子被狗袭击受伤。

她说：“我们反应迅速，立即派遣临床医生搭乘两辆快速救护车、一辆有双倍医护人员的救护车以及德比、莱斯特和拉特兰的空中救护车赶往现场。我们还通知了莱斯特郡警方。”

“小女孩被带到在诺丁汉女王医学中心进行治疗，但不幸的是，没能挽救她的生命。”

“对于所有关心这件事的人而言，这是一通令人心痛的急救电话，并且我们为实施救助的同事提供了帮助。”

令人难以置信的是，这只狗的品种被列为《危险犬只法案》第一节中。