dog attack
A six-year-old boy was killed and a woman was injured after a mauling attack in a Portland home, authorities said.

On Tuesday morning Portland Police responded to reports of a dog attack, police said in a statement.

Upon arriving at the home, officers discovered that a pair of dogs, believed to be Great Dane-Mastiff mixes, mauled the young boy and the woman as she tried to stop the attack, police said.

The boy was pronounced dead at the scene and the woman was taken to a local hospital to treat minor injuries, according to police.


"Upon further investigation, officers determined the woman injured is the owner of the dogs and the little boy killed is her friend's grandson," police said in a statement.

The two dogs are currently in the custody of Multnomah County Animal Services. The Portland Police Bureau Child Abuse Team and Homicide Unit are investigating the incident and are asking anyone with information to contact authorities.

This is the latest deadly dog attack in the U.S. this year. In July, a 6-year-old boy in Florida died after he was attacked by the family dog, police said.

In May, a woman was killed and an 8-year-old child was injured in a dog attack in Indiana. In Iowa, a baby was killed and a woman was seriously injured earlier in May.

Dog attacks in Louisiana and Idaho in January left children dead. In February, a man in his 80s was killed and three others were hurt in a Texas dog attack. And a Pennsylvania woman died after she was attacked by a neighbor's dog in March.