A man being interviewed by a BBC documentary film crew was mauled to death by his own dog earlier this month.
The Guardian reported that Mario Perivoitos, 41, was working with the film crew in his north London home March 20 when his Staffordshire bull terrier attacked him. The crew called an ambulance, which took Perivoitos to a hospital.
Perivoitos, who had severe neck wounds, died a couple of hours later.
Neighbors, who said Perivoitos had lived in the building for about 20 years, told the Guardian that they heard the attack.
"I heard shouting. 'Get him off! Get him off me!'" Geoff Morgan said. "He was shouting really loudly. He was bleeding from his neck. There was a lot of blood."
An autopsy showed that Perivoitos died of hypovolemic shock, a condition that occurs when a person loses more than a fifth of their blood volume. The lack of blood or fluid causes inadequate blood circulation and, subsequently, organ failure.
The medical examiner also cited damage to his airway in the autopsy, the Guardian reported.
Perivoitos’ dog was seized by police and is being kept in a secure kennel, the paper reported. Staffordshire bull terriers are not one of the breeds banned under the UK’s Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991.
According to the BBC, the Dangerous Dogs Act puts restrictions on ownership of four breeds -- the pit bull terrier, the Japanese tosa, the fila brasileiro and the dogo argentino -- which were traditionally bred for fighting. The law requires owners of those breeds to obtain an exemption from the courts.
They must register and insure their dogs and keep them muzzled and leashed when in public. The dogs must also be spayed or neutered and must be tattooed and microchipped for identification purposes if they get loose.
A BBC report last year indicated that, of the 30 dog-related deaths in the UK since the ban, 21 involved dog breeds that did not fall under the ban's restrictions. National Health Service data also showed a 76 percent increase in hospital admissions for dog bites over the span of a decade.
It was not clear for what documentary the BBC film crew was interviewing Perivoitos, the Guardian said. The network released a brief statement following the attack.
"A crew making a BBC documentary were present -- but not filming -- at the time of the incident and called an ambulance," the statement read. "Given the ongoing inquiries, it would not be appropriate to comment further."
Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
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