The two Rottweilers had blood on their paws and fangs, a police officer said.

CHENNAI: Two pet Rottweilers mauled to death a 68-yearold woman early on Thursday in a gruesome attack that left the victim scalped and her face disfigured .

The dogs attacked Gowri, a resident of Govardhanagiri in Avadi , around 1.30am when she went to the terrace of the house she shared with her husband Chandrasekar , 82, their son and his family, investigators said.

The elderly couple’s son Santhosh, who lived on the first floor of the house with his wife and raised the two Rottweilers, aged one and five, said his mother suffered from depression and rarely left the house, an investigating officer said.

“Santhosh said his mother was probably not aware that the dogs were on the terrace,” he said. “Other members of the family were asleep when the dogs attacked the woman. Gowri’s husband Chandrasekar is hard of hearing and does not recall when she left their bedroom on the ground floor of the house.”

Neighbour says he heard victim moaning softly

A neighbour told investigators that he heard Gowri moaning softly around 4.30am but she habitually murmured to herself and he did not think anything was amiss, theofficer said.

“Neighbours said that thedogs reactedferociously at thesightof theelderly couple who did their best to keep a safe distance from the animals,” theofficer said. “Thefamily, originally from Kerala, has been in Avadi for more than four decades.”

The family found Gowri, her face down in a pool of blood, on the terrace at 6am. “There was a lot of blood everywhere,” the officer said. “The dogs had almost completely ripped out her hair. Both animals had blood on their paws and fangs.”

The Avadi police registered an unnatural death under Section 174 of the CrPC. Two Rottweilers had on September 13, 2016 savaged their 56-year-old owner, Kirubakaran, an assistant to a Government Railway Police officer, in Kattupakkam village, Vellore district, in the last fatal attack by dogs of the breed in the state prior to Thursday.

Adult Rottweilers are medium-sized dogs, averaging 22 to 27 inches in height at the foreshoulder and weighing up to 50kg, but are very strong, a veterinarian said. The breed, a herder, has a reputation for an unpredictable temperament and a history dating to ancient Rome.

A Chennai police detective dog squad trainer, warning of the potential dangers in raising a Rottweiler, said, “They are intelligent and confident dogs but, as a breed, not a good choice for first-time dog owners.” “Early socialisation is a must,” he said. “Young Rottweilers can be extremely boisterous. Training must start early and be consistent through the dog’s life because it can sometimes show aggression toward people.”

The Rottweiler is a banned breed in several countries, including Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Romania, Ukraine and Israel; many states or municipal authorities in the USA restrict or ban Rottweilers under breedspecificlegislation.

Animal activists said India imposes no restrictions on any specific variety. The Centre in April 2016 enforced a ban on imports of dogs of foreign origin, including Rottweilers, for any commercial purpose, which caused a brief spike in the price of pedigree dogs but did not limit the breeding of potentially dangerouscanines.

