Breed: The boy was attacked by two Rottweilers Photo: library image

The eight-year-old boy who was mauled by two Rottweilers at his Dublin home on Sunday has died.

The child has been named locally as Glen Murphy.

He had suffered devastating injuries to his head and body in the vicious mauling on Sunday afternoon and died in Crumlin Children’s Hospital yesterday.

It is believed that the horrific attack, which lasted up to 10 minutes, was caught on CCTV.

The security footage is being examined by gardaí, and is believed to have recorded the horrific incident.

The boy was set upon by the two Rottweilers at around 4pm at the family’s home on the Blessington Road, west of Tallaght.

He was found by a relative and rushed by ambulance to Tallaght Hospital, before he was transferred to Crumlin Children’s Hospital.

The dog warden confiscated the dogs, believed to be pets and guard dogs, and they were put down.

Gardaí at Tallaght garda station are treating the case as a tragedy.

A source said: “This is a very tragic incident. It’s understood that one dog turned and the other followed. The dogs would have been very familiar to the child and their surroundings, and have never caused any issues before.”

Gardaí and the emergency services rushed to the scene when the alarm was raised.

“At approximately 4pm, a male child (8) was seriously injured following a reported attack by a number of dogs at a house in the Tallaght area,” a Garda spokesperson said after the incident.

The house where the attack took place is a detached property off the Blessington Road. A self-storage container business is also run from the same address, with the storage units situated beside and behind the house.

Gardaí confirmed at lunchtime yesterday that the young boy had tragically died. A source yesterday told the Irish Independent that the boy’s family were “utterly distraught” following the tragedy.

Local councillor Charlie O’Connor said the community reacted with deep shock on hearing of the news of the dog attack on Sunday.

“Everybody’s reaction has been the same, and that’s a reaction of shock and sadness,” said Cllr O’Connor.

“It’s an extraordinary incident and nobody can get to grips with it, and for it to happen while there is already so much bad news in the community surrounding coronavirus just makes it worse,” he added.

“You can only feel for the family at this awful time, and they will have the support of the whole community.”

Irish Independent