A woman in her 50s has died after being mauled by a dog at her property in Southern River yesterday.
About 1.30pm on August 1 police were called to her home in Terrier Place, which also serves as canine boarding kennel Barko Boarding and Rescue.
Sue Lopicich received life threatening injuries from a cross breed Mastiff and she was declared dead when St John’s Ambulance arrived at the scene.
Police were not treating her death as suspicious.
Ms Lopicich’s neighbour Greg Ball said he was not surprised when he heard the news.
“I was waiting for it to happen,” he said.
Mr Ball said that when the woman did not show up for work her daughter went looking for her and found her non-responsive.
He said the woman had been very passionate about caring for dogs but she had two which he called ‘bad ones.’
“We’ve been breeders for 40 years,” he said.
“Some of these dogs just can’t be helped.”
Mr Ball alleged that some time ago a friend of the woman’s tried to break up a fight between the two dogs and one of the dogs apparently went for his throat narrowly missing his jugular.
Mr Ball also said his partner has been very upset since the news of the death.
“We didn’t live in each other’s pockets,” he said.
“Still we were neighbours and we passed pleasantries.”
Ms Lopicich who reportedly also worked in childcare ran the kennel for four years.
The crossbreed dog responsible for mauling the woman was taken by City of Gosnells rangers yesterday after the incident.
The dog had prevented police from accessing the woman’s body until council rangers attended the scene and removed the dog.
The City of Gosnells said no previous complaints had been made to the city about these dogs.
The police confirmed that the Bull Mastiff, which was being held by the city at the request of police, caused the death of Ms Lopicich.
The city said the Bull Mastiff has been surrendered and will be humanely euthanised by a vet.
The police advised the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was not involved and will be returned to the family.
Perth Pet’s in Need, which supports rescued animals in WA, posted a statement about Ms Lopicich’s death.
The group expressed their condolences to her family and friends.
They also said it was disappointing the City of Gosnells released the footage of the dog at prior to the investigation being concluded and the coroners report released.
The group felt the release of the footage was insensitive and the attention should remain on ensuring there is a fair and thorough investigation into the incident, finding care for Ms Lopicich’s remaining dogs at the property and providing support to her loved ones, particularly her daughters.
