Fresh calls for change in law after great-grandmother 'mauled to death by daughter's dogs' in back garden

• Gloria Knowles, 71, went next door to feed the animals but was apparently mauled to death
• Neighbours say they heard screaming coming from the garden in Morden, south London
• Five dogs seized: two French Mastiffs, two American bulldogs and a small mongrel
• Neighbours say the dogs killed a cat just a few weeks ago after playing with it

Tragic: Gloria Knowles, who was savaged to death by her daughter's dogs, pictured at Harrington's pie and mash shop, Tooting, where she worked

Fresh calls were made for a change in the law today after a great-grandmother was apparently mauled to death by her daughter's dogs in her back garden.
The five animals pounced on Gloria Knowles, 71, after she went into the garden to give them their evening meal as a favour to her daughter, Beverley Mason. 
The widow was badly injured when the dogs – two 'giant' Bordeaux French mastiffs, two American bulldogs and a small mongrel – seemed to suddenly turn on her.
She was found dead at the scene in Morden, South London on Tuesday night.
Currently, police can only prosecute owners of dogs who harm people if the attack happens in public - and they can only forcibly remove illegal dogs.
However, today further calls were made for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to change the law to allow dog control rules to apply everywhere.
The Communications Union CWU, which represents postmen, is campaigning to change the law and said the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is failing to protect both dog owners and attack victims.

They pointed to two incidents where postmen in Cambridge and Sheffield almost lost limbs while carrying out their duties. The man who owned two rottweilers that almost tore off the Cambridge postman's arm in 2008 escaped prosecution.

Brutal: Gloria Knowles was mauled to death by her daughter's dogs - two French Mastiffs, two American bulldogs and a small mongrel (all pictured)

Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary, said: 'The death of Gloria Knowles is another sad reminder of the need for better dangerous dogs laws.

THE LAW ON DOG ATTACKS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY

Under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, dog owners cannot be prosecuted if their animal attacks someone on private property.
This has raised controversy, especially when it comes to the case of police officers who are attacked by dogs when making an arrest in a suspect’s home and the owner escapes prosecution.
Postal workers, nurses and social workers, who are all lawfully entitled to be on private property, are also affected by the rules.
Four children and one adult were killed in dog attacks in private homes between 2007 and 2010.
The number of injuries has more than doubled from 2,915 in 1997 to 6,118 in 2010.
Currently, the law says only owners can only be prosecuted if a dog attack occurs on public land, not in places such as in family homes.
The Communication Workers Union launched a ‘Bite Back’ campaign to change the law to cover attacks on private property.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have already introduced new improved legislation and Wales is legislating in the current session.

'The private property issue is again highlighted in this case. Although it may not be appropriate to prosecute the daughter for her mother’s death – she will be suffering all sorts of agonies over the loss of her mother – it could have been necessary under different circumstances.
'If a person is killed by dogs on private property there is almost no chance of prosecuting the owner and getting compensation for victims, regardless of the recklessness of the dog owner and the viciousness of the attack.'
He added: 'This government has procrastinated and steadfastly refused to act on the issue of dangerous dogs while people continue to suffer serious injuries and lose their lives in dog attacks.'
Police and paramedics were called after neighbours described hearing 'hysterical screaming and barking' from Mrs Mason's garden.
Five dogs were later seized from the semi-detached property, and it was revealed that Mrs Knowles had had a heart attack as the animals set on her. 
It is not yet known if she suffered a heart attack before or during the attack. A post mortem examination is expected to be carried out later today. 
Nazir Hussein, a friend and neighbour of Mrs Knowles, was alerted to the attack when he heard her daughter Mrs Mason screaming 'Mum, Mum, Mum' outside the house.
Mrs Knowles lived next door to her daughter, with her granddaughter, who has a baby of her own. The family has run Harrington's pie and mash shop in nearby Tooting, for several generations.
Mrs Mason lives with her husband, Dylan, and her other three children. The couple own the dogs together.

Mr Hussein, 65, said he had long been afraid of the family's dogs, describing them as 'vicious'.

Dog attack: Mrs Knowles (centre) with daughters Jasmine-Jade Knowles (left), and Beverley Knowles (right)

'I would see the dogs being walked in the park but I didn't want to walk near them,' he said.
'They were vicious dogs – you knew by how they pulled on the lead and you could hear them barking from my house.

Neighbour: Kevin Hamilton said he heard screaming but assumed it was one of Beverley's children

'There were so many dogs something like this was bound to happen.'
Another neighbour, Kevin Hamilton, described hearing screams from Mrs Mason's house at 5:15pm but mistook the noise, thinking it had come from one of Mrs Knowles's grandchildren.
Accountant Mr Hamilton, 65, who lives in the other house next door to Mrs Mason, described hearing 'hysterical screaming and barking' as he watched television.
He only became aware of the attack when a police officer told him about it, explaining that Mrs Knowles was alone in the house when she went to feed the dogs. He said officers had told him it was Mr Mason who discovered Mrs Knowles's body. 
Mr Hamilton described the two mastiffs as 'real muscle dogs' with 'enormous chests', and said the animals had a 'pack mentality'. He added: 'If one jumped on you it would certainly knock you over.'
He revealed Mrs Mason also owned cats and that one of them was killed a few weeks ago after the dogs began playing with it.

He said: 'About two months ago they had this white cat which died.
'The cat used to sleep with the dogs and one of these dogs started to playfully toss it in the air. They have a pack mentality - so the others started doing it too.

'It survived initially and they wrapped it in a blanket, but it later passed away from shock. They are not the sort of dogs you would want to mess with.'
He described Mrs Knowles, a widow,  as a 'fit old bird' who talked to all the neighbours and enjoyed gardening.
She had lived on the street with her husband Victor for 40 years, until he died five years ago. Neighbours said her daughter and her family moved into the house next door the year after Mr Knowles's death.
They explained that there was a gate between the gardens of the two houses which Mrs Knowles would regularly use, often to feed the animals.

Scene: Police have cordoned off the Morden home where Mrs Knowles died last night

Scene: The back garden of Gloria Knowles' daughter Beverley where it is believed the five dogs attacked her

Tragedy: Dog baskets and food bowls can be seen in the garden at the scene where Gloria Knowles may have been mauled to death by the animals

Animals removed: Police have seized the two French Mastiffs, the American bulldogs and the mongrel pending the post-mortem

Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: 'The dogs were always barking, everyone around here will tell you that.
'They had always had dogs but never any that big. They were not the sort of dogs I would have around children, let me put it that way.'

ATTACK MIRRORS  PREVIOUS VIOLENT DEATHS IN LONDON

Two years ago Barbara Williams, 52, was mauled to death by an eight stone Neapolitan mastiff in Wallington, south London.
The dog had been kept in a cage seven inches shorter than its body. Earlier this year its owner Alex Blackburn-Smith, 35, admitted failing to ensure the dog's welfare and was ordered to do 150 hours' unpaid work and pay costs of £3,300 at Croydon Magistrates' Court.
In January Leslie Trotman, 83, died after he was mauled by a 'pitbull-type' dog that had broken out of his neighbour's garden in Brentford, West London.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said:  'Police were called at around 6.25pm on Tuesday to reports of a 71-year-old woman found deceased at a residential address in Morden.'
He added that an investigation was under way to establish the cause of death, and said the woman had sustained a 'number of injuries'.
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: 'We were called at 6.12pm to [a house] in Morden to a patient in cardiac arrest. Sadly, the patient was dead at the scene.' 
The family was too upset to talk last night. Mrs Knowles's death follows a spate of attacks by dangerous breeds.
Earlier this year, Leslie Trotman, 83, died after being mauled by a 'pit bull-type' dog that had escaped from his neighbour's garden in Brentford, London. And two years ago Barbara Williams, 52, was killed by an eight-stone Neapolitan mastiff.
Its owner, Alex Blackburn-Smith, 35, admitted failing to ensure the dog's welfare after it was discovered to have been living in a cage seven inches shorter than its body.