Californian courts rule dogs must die

A San Francisco appeals court has upheld the death sentence for one of two dogs that mauled a woman to death in the hallway of her flat.

Diane Whipple died after the attack on January 26. Her neighbours, Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel, were caring for the dogs at the time and maintained they were generally gentle and well-behaved pets.

A dog named Bane, the primary aggressor, was destroyed immediately afterwards and the second dog, a 8st 5lb Presa Canario bitch named Hera, was declared ‘‘vicious and dangerous’’ by a police sergeant who ordered the animal to be destroyed.