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Woman mauled to death in her Long Island City home by English Mastiff dog she adopted, NYPD says

A Long Island City woman was mauled to death by her dog early Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, police said.
A Long Island City woman was mauled to death by her dog early Monday, Feb. 13, 2017, police said. Photo Credit: iStock

A 75-year-old Queens woman was apparently mauled to death, and her son attacked, early Monday by one of her dogs, police said.

The woman, Louise Herminda, was found just before 1 a.m. inside her Long Island City home with trauma to her upper torso, police said.

She was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.

Her 39-year-old special-needs son was also attacked and suffered trauma to his lower left leg. He was taken to the same hospital in stable condition.

The English Mastiff was taken to Animal Care Centers of NYC’s Manhattan facility, a representative said, but could not comment further due to the legal status of the case.

The dog, which is male, was adopted from an ACC facility in 2011 but not by Herminda, according to a source at ACC. At the time he was adopted, the dog was under a year old, the source said.

Next-door neighbor Rosa Ortiz, 36, said Herminda lived in the two-story home for more than 40 years and had several dogs. Ortiz said Herminda’s son knocked on her door last night after the attack.

“He said, ‘My mother was dying,’ ” she recalled. “It was really bad. She was filled with blood and still alive. She was calling her son.”

Ortiz said Herminda really cared about animals.

“She was very nice, a caring person,” she added.

Nick Siderias manages Michael’s Cafe down the block and said he has seen the dog with Herminda’s son before.

“He was friendly and never had any problems,” Siderias said, adding that he had petted the dog before. “The son would walk it all the time.”

The city’s medical examiner will determine the cause of death. A spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said an autopsy would take place Tuesday.

With Alison Fox and Lauren Cook