XL Bully owner killed by own dog had just come home from night out

An XL Bully owner who was killed by her dog had just come in from celebrating her birthday when she was set upon, it has emerged. Nicole Morey, 23, died after she was attacked by her pet in the Fedamore area of Limerick on Tuesday. Ms Morey had been on a night out with family and friends before the incident happened.

Investigators believe that Ms Morey was returning from celebrating her birthday and had just opened her front door when she was mauled by the dog. Another dog, understood to be a Staffordshire Terrier, also joined in attacking Ms Morey. It comes as heartbreaking videos emerged of her with her pets in happier times.

One TikTok video captioned 'my boy' shows the owner dancing in her kitchen with her dog and laughing. The overlaying audio hauntingly plays: 'This is my son, and I don't give a f*** if you think he looks aggressive.' Posted in December, the footage with the audio continues: 'I don't give a f*** if you don't like the look of him, and I certainly don't give a f*** if you think the breed should be banned.'

Other videos play a compilation of photos with Ms Morey beaming and hugging her dogs as they lay on her. Another - posted with the hashtag 'dogmum' - shows her doing a TikTok trend with two dogs, feeding them treats according to which one is 'more protective' and 'who is most likely to start an argument'. Ms Morey previously shared pictures smiling alongside two of her pets. It is not clear if the animals were the ones involved in the attack.

After Gardai were alerted, armed officers shot dead one of the dogs and took control of three others. The harrowing incident was captured on CCTV, and the footage has been leaked online, with Gardaí urging the public not to share it. Ms Morey's heartbroken sister Jolene led the tributes yesterday. She said: 'My heart is shattered once again on your birthday. I only hung up on you two seconds before, I really tried my best to help. I'm so sorry Nicole. I love you so much. It feels like a bit of a bad dream.'

Ms Morey had previously posted on a dog behaviour Facebook group seeking advice on how to control the animal. She wrote: 'When I go to put my XL on the lead for walks, he's freaking out, running to the door out of excitement. But nearly too excited for us to even get the lead and collar on him.'

Reacting to the shocking news, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said she now favours banning certain breeds of dog in Ireland, including the XL Bully. Currently no breeds are banned in Ireland, but there are restrictions on certain breeds - meaning owners must be over 16, the dogs must be muzzled in public, kept on strong leads or a chain and must wear collars at all times, containing the owners contact information.

Asked if she wanted to see an outright ban, Ms McEntee told RTÉ News At One: 'Personally, I think there should be, yes. Where a dog is known to be potentially vicious… where there is a pattern of particular dogs, then we do need to go further here. This was in a person's home, so how do we protect people where they have dogs that are restricted, even within their own homes as well? This review group is looking at all of the options here. We need to ensure that nothing like this happens again, this is really, really devastating.' Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, had already set up a cross Governmental stakeholder group, chaired by the retired Deputy Garda Commissioner John Twomey, to examine this whole area. She said that group's work is underway.

Speaking from Spain where he was on holidays, Ms Morey's granduncle, Anthony O'Donnell, 58, said distressed family members telephoned him and delivered the shocking news. 'She was out for her birthday, she was 23, and, she went home, opened the hall door to go in home when the dog attacked her, jumped out on top of her and attacked her,' Mr O'Donnell said. 'By the time the Gardai got there, they (the dogs) were mauling her, the gardai couldn't really get them off of her, they had to shoot the dog to get him off of her, that's what I'm hearing from family members that are ringing me,' he said. Paying tribute, Mr O'Donnell described his grandniece as 'a lovely girl, with a great heart, would do you a good turn rather than any turn'. 'She was a decent girl, quiet, she kept to herself.'

Mr O'Donnell said two young women who were staying in the same hotel as him in Spain told him his deceased grandniece was well known for posting photos of herself and the dogs on social media. 'There's two young girls here and they know her and they said she used to treat them (the dogs) like babies,' he said. 'They said she used to have Snapchats up and Facebook (posts) with the dogs inside in bed with her, that they were like her children. I said to them this morning it just goes to show you can't trust dogs. You can't trust any dog, but especially those dogs they are bred to kill.'

Ms Morey died at the scene of the attack despite the best efforts of paramedics who treated her there. Her body was removed to University Hospital Limerick where a post-mortem exam was to be carried out. Family friend, Fr Richard Davern, St Mary's parish, Limerick City, led prayers at St Mary's Church, Athlunkard, Limerick, in memory of the deceased. 'We prayed for the poor woman at mass this morning, I buried her grandfather Pa O'Donnell only last February, they are a lovely family from St Mary's Park,' Fr Davern said.

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