A CHARD woman is calling for reforms to stop further deaths after her four-year-old niece was mauled to death by a rehomed dog.

Victoria Whiteman, who lives in Crimchard, has set up a petition calling for the government to set statutory requirements and laws for rehoming centres in the UK.

Her niece, Lexi Branson, died in 2013, after she was attacked by the family’s recently-rehomed Alston bulldog, Mulan.

It was later found that the dog had a history of violence and had been considered a threat to children by a previous owner.

She said: “I have just set this parliamentary petition up regarding rehoming centres since there aren’t any set guidelines and to try and stop what happened to us happening again.”

“My family suffered a tragedy back on November 5, 2013. Since that coroner’s verdict nothing has changed.

“Every time it happens our Lexi’s image is used time and time again. Let’s hope this can change.

“It’s still very traumatic, but living here, visiting Ferne Animal Sanctuary and seeing how they run is fantastic. But not all rehoming centres run that way.”

However, Elaine Hayes, CEO at Ferne Animal Sanctuary, is unconvinced that news laws is the best way to deal with the problem.

She said: “We are incredibly sorry for the tragic death of Lexi.

“Ferne does its best to gather as much information as possible about every animal that comes into its care.

“This is not an easy task.

“When a re-homing centre takes in an animal it is reliant upon the owner, if indeed there is one, to provide information which isn’t always complete.

“We assess every dog ourselves but behaviour in kennels can be different to a home setting.

“We provide a prospective owner with as much information and support as possible and try and match the dog to the type of household.

“This is not a perfect system but works well for us.

“Most re-homing centres operate a similar system.

“We would be concerned that any legislation brought in would not be able to encompass the nature of the assessments carried out and may even give a false sense of security if less prescriptive than those done currently.

“We believe the best approach is through education of dog owners, the public and local communities and training of staff at rescue centres.”

Mrs Whiteman added: “The chain of events and circumstances which happened to Lexi, like I said it’s very hard and upsetting. It’s a living nightmare which we have to live with.

“We just want to help prevent this from keep happening. It’s hurtful that every time another child passes under similar circumstances Lexi image is shown and we are back at that day on November 5, 2013 yet again.”

To view the petition, click here.