MONTREAL — The neighbour of a 55-year-old Montreal woman who died after apparently being attacked by a pit bull says he was shocked by what he saw.
Farid Benzenati said he arrived home from work at around 5 p.m. and noticed a dog playing with what he thought was "a large object" in the next backyard.
When he took a closer look, it was clear the object was a woman's body.
"I yelled her name," he said. "I saw blood, and the dog was still attacking her."
Benzenati called police but said it was clearly too late to help the woman.
Police responding to a 911 call found the woman's body in the backyard of her home in the east-end district of Pointe-aux-Trembles.
Police said the dog, which appeared to be a pit bull, was standing by the body and acting aggressively. It was shot and killed by officers to allow paramedics to approach the woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Although the victim had several bite marks on her body, an autopsy will be conducted to determine a cause of death.
Police have met with the dog's owner, but as of late Wednesday they said it was too early in the investigation to say if any charges would be laid.
No names have been released.
