68-year-old Esther Martin of Woodford Green, England, was visiting her 11-year-old grandson in Jaywick on Saturday when she was attacked by two dogs inside a house in Hillman Avenue, police said.
“A 39-year-old man arrested on suspicion of dangerous dog offenses has been released on conditional bail until 5 March,” the Essex police said in a press release on Monday.
Chief Superintendent Glen Pavelin also confirmed to media on Sunday that “both dogs were destroyed inside the house” following the attack.
“We’re making good progress in our investigation into Esther’s death,” Acting Detective Superintendent Stuart Truss said, adding that “it is an investigation with a number of complexities, but we are determined to give Esther’s family the answers they need.”
“We are working with experts to confirm the breed of the dogs,” Truss continued. “This may take some days but it’s really important we get it right. I would ask people not to speculate about this element — we will establish the facts and we will keep the community in Jaywick updated.
According to Martin’s daughter Sonia Martin, 47 in a video. “there were adult XL bully dogs in the property.”
“My mum had raised concerns to the owners about them being dangerous and quite aggressive,” she told the outlet, adding that “there were also six puppies.”
Per the BBC, Sonia also believed her mother had been previously told by the dogs’ owner to “put a broom in among” the puppies “to distract them” when they started fighting. “That’s when she was attacked,” she said.
She added that after her nephew “ran out of the house screaming for help,” some neighbors used spades to try to “fight off” the dogs.
“We’d really like to thank all the neighbors for coming and helping and trying to save my mum’s life,” Sonia told the BBC. “My concern was if my nephew hadn’t run out of the house what could have then happened to him? He’s 11.”
Ch Supt Glen Pavelin, from Essex Police, said the suspect’s relationship to Ms Martin – who was a grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of three – was “familial”.
On Monday, police said they were “making good progress” in the investigation, despite a “number of complexities”.
