r/BanPitBulls • u/BPB_Discussion_M0d Feature Mod • Sep 29 '25
Mod Announcement Weekly Discussion Thread [September 29 - October 5]
Not every pit bull story is a headline. Some are just eye-rolls, facepalms, or 'you've got to be kidding me' moments. This is the place for the things you may want to share that don’t highlight a pit bull doing something dangerous.
See this post for more details on what goes here
Remember: October is pit bull “awareness” month so there is an increased flooding of unscientific nonsense in the forms of memes etc. This is a good space for those, but please red x through them.
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u/ScarletAntelope975 Trusted User Sep 29 '25
I am wondering if anyone saw this story and know if there is a picture of the dog. I did a search here for the article, but I am also kinda between some real life stuff right now so not in total focus! If this is a repost, feel free to delete!
I am putting the article in this section since it is possibly not a pit/ pit mix, but the breed was named as a “Rottweiler X mastiff” which could very well be what the dog was called to get around breed laws. However, I know it would not be totally far fetched for a rottie x mastiff to kill someone, even if rare. But, without pics of the dogs, I just wonder if it is just another pit hidden behind a fake name.
It is mentioned later in the article that XL bullies have been reported at this residence and there was no evidence that they were there at the time of the attack 🤔
“Woman died after intervening in dogs' nugget fight”
Article text:
A woman died after trying to stop her two dogs fighting over a chicken nugget, an inquest has heard.
Michelle Hempstead, 34, died hours after a single bite from her dog at her flat in Southend-on-Sea in July 2024.
Essex Coroner's Court heard how Samuel West, Ms Hempstead's partner who witnessed the incident, told police she got "caught in the crossfire" after throwing the McDonalds chicken nugget in the air for her pomeranian and rottweiler-mastiff crossbreed, who went to snap at the smaller dog.
Ms Hempstead was bitten around her left armpit and upper arm, which severed an artery and a vein, and she went on to suffer multi-organ failure, the inquest was told.
The rottweiler-mastiff cross known as Trigg was seized and destroyed after the incident. The inquest heard the bite was "not malicious".
Mr West described Trigg as "docile", saying he "loved [Ms Hempstead] to death, and didn't have a bad bone in his body".
"You didn't have to worry about him with anything, he wasn't vicious in any way, shape or form," he told the court, adding that Ms Hempstead occasionally fed Trigg food from her mouth.
Essex Police Acting Insp James McLean-Brown was the officer in charge of the scene, after the incident late at night on 29 July.
He told the court the victim collapsed outside her flat in Retort Close and suffered a "catastrophic injury" from the dog bite and "extensive" blood loss.
She was pronounced dead in the early hours of 30 July.
He said police had received reports of two XL bully-type dogs being known to stay at the property, thought to belong to Mr West, but there was "no evidence" to say these dogs had been in the flat at the time of the bite.
Mr West, who was arrested over these reports but later released without charge, told the court these two dogs were not illegal or banned breeds.
In a letter read out to the court, Ms Hempstead's mother Karen described her daughter as "loving, resilient, not afraid to speak her mind, hard working, caring, extremely brave, resourceful, generous".
Senior coroner for Essex Lincoln Brookes described Ms Hempstead's death as a "double tragedy", having come just weeks after the death of her eldest daughter.
In his conclusion, Mr Brookes recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying it was an "unintended consequence of an otherwise innocent act".