Police fear British woman was mauled to death by stray dogs
Police fear British woman was mauled to death by stray dogs
A British woman who ran a shelter for stray dogs in Egypt has been found partially eaten by the pooches she cared for — dying just days after she admitted running out of food for them, according to reports.

Animal lover Janet Johnstone, 61, was found on Friday in her animal sanctuary in Wadi al-Qamar with bite wounds to her head, face, neck and legs, the Times of London said.

Police believe the dogs had been hungry and turned on her, the UK Times said, citing local media. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as shock due to blood loss, the paper said.

At least three of the hundreds of dogs she cared for had blood — which is now being tested — on their mouths, the paper said.

She had also recently taken in a pit bull terrier to save it from being euthanized after it attacked someone, a friend told the paper, fearing it could be the dog who attacked her.

Johnstone — who had lived in Egypt for 16 years to care for the animals — had admitted in a frustrated Facebook post late last month that she had failed to raise enough money for dog food.

"So the dogs couldn't be fed today," she wrote at the time.

However, friends who run a Facebook page for her shelter insisted the animals would never kill their "guardian angel," believing instead that she fell unconscious while attempting to feed the animals.

"We absolutely refute any suggestion that she died because of a dog attack," wrote the admins for the page, calling them "longterm friends" of the dead woman.

"We do not know exactly and to the best of our knowledge no one else does either, most likely the truth will never come out," they wrote, while battling to try to keep the animals safe.

They praised her for "saving neglected and suffering animals" and fighting for them "when they had no one else."

"Janet will forever be in our hearts, she helped so many," they wrote, sending "heartfelt condolences firstly to all her fur babies."

A spokesman for Britain's Foreign Office told the Sun, "We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in Egypt and are in contact with the Egyptian authorities.

"Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time."