Seagulls kill dog then return to attack toddler two weeks later

A mum has revealed how a vicious flock of seagulls attacked her two-year-old daughter less than two weeks after they killed her dog.

Emily Vincent, from Cornwall, said her family were traumatised after beloved Yorkshire Terrier Roo was fatally savaged by a gull in the back garden.

The pet suffered a head wound and brain damage after the attack, believed to have been triggered by the birds protecting a nest.

Days after the fatal attack, Emily’s two-year-old daughter Jessie was also targeted by the same deadly gull gang while playing in the back garden.

She was left with facial injuries but the mum-of-four said she believed Jessie’s wounds would have been even more serious, or even fatal, had she not been there to fight the gull off.

Emily, 40, said she was speaking out about her ordeal out of support for the family of Gizmo, a chihuahua believed to have been kidnapped and killed by a gull in Paignton, Devon.

She said: ‘Two weeks after they killed my dog they went for my two year old daughter, thank god I was there and managed to hit it but it still hit her in the side of her face causing bruising to her face.

‘Something needs to be done sooner rather than later before something worse happens and one kills somebody.

‘It shouldn’t have to take that before something is done but that’s what I feel is going to happen.’

The mum-of-four said she and her family are still traumatised by the death of eight-year-old Roo, who was sadly put down after failing to respond to treatment.

Emily’s son Jace, who was three at the time of the attack in July 2015, came running into the kitchen covered in blood from the ‘murder scene’ of the attack on Roo.

The concerned parent now fears unless action is taken to control the gulls, a child will die as a result.

All species of gull are currently protected, making it illegal to intentionally kill a bird or destroy its nest without a special licence.

Emily said she tried to contact the council at the time and have the nest destroyed, but was told the animals were protected and that she was not allowed to disturb the nest.

Herring gulls, the most common type of seagull in the UK, are listed on the RSPB’s red-list as endangered as the total gull population is decreasing.

She said: ‘There should be more done to protect people and their pets. Roo was like another child to me.

‘I believe the protection should be dropped from these creatures. A cull would be pointless long term but without the protection numbers could be managed responsibly.

‘They are scavengers and make mess and cause harm and stress. They are a menace.’