Police shoot three dogs attacking Rotterdam woman

A woman was attacked by three dogs in an apartment in Hilledijk in Rotterdam during the early hours of Wednesday morning. She was seriously injured. Responding police officers were forced to shoot and kill all three dogs, a police spokesperson said to newspaper AD.

Police officers responded to the apartment building at 1:45 a.m. after a neighbor called reporting screaming and barking coming from the apartment. At the scene the officers saw that three dogs were attacking a woman on the apartment's porch. They managed to enter the porch area through a neighbor's home.

"Officers saw that the woman was seriously injured. The dogs stood around her with blood on their mouths', the police spokesperson said to the newspaper. Dog handlers tried to calm the dogs down, but it was to no avail. The dogs were so focused on the woman, that the police could not get to her to provide aid, according to the spokesperson "So they saw no other option than to kill the dogs. It was also very intense for the officers themselves." The woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The dogs did not belong to the victim, but to a family member who lived with her. They were Staffordshire terriers, according to the police. When the owner arrived home, he was very emotional. "He thought it was terrible what happened, but he did understand the way the officers acted", the police spokesperson said. The animal ambulance took the dogs away. Victim support was offered to their owner and the employees of the animal ambulance. The involved police officers are receiving help internally.