Armed gardaí had to deploy incapacitant spray to restrain the animals following the attack at an apartment in Dún Laoghaire on Thursday afternoon.
It is understood one of the bulldogs knocked the woman (60s) over before both animals mauled her.
She suffered a number of puncture wounds to her limbs and was knocked unconscious during the attack. The woman underwent surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital yesterday for injuries to her arm.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, the victim’s son, who owns the dogs, said the animals would be put down.
“My mother is recovering from her injuries in hospital, and I have agreed for the dogs to be put down,” he said.
The owner also said that rumours there was a so-called puppy farm or puppy mill at the apartment were not true.
“They were just pets. They were well treated and used to sleep on our beds with us. I don’t know what happened. I think one of them was the main aggressor and the other one was less involved, but they will both be put down,” he said.
The animals were later humanely destroyed under Section 23 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act, 2013.
Emergency services and gardaí rushed to the scene at an apartment complex in the Cualanor Park area, close to Sallynoggin and Dún Laoghaire, early Thursday afternoon after they were alerted to the incident by local residents.
A woman who had heard the cries of the victim is also reported to have tried to get the dogs away from her until medics arrived.
The victim was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital with serious injuries.
At one stage there were eight garda vehicles, including two armed response cars, and two ambulances at the scene.
Local Fine Gael councillor Lorraine Hall said the community is terrified by what happened, and that there are a lot of families and children in the area.
“This attack happened in a ground floor apartment and the dogs could have escaped into the community. I cannot begin to imagine what might have happened if they got out,” she said.
“I think there’s more work to be done on licensing and approval of dogs, and regulating and restricting dog breeding, as well as dealing effectively with reports from the public and enforcement of the law,” Ms Hall added.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has recorded 49 attacks so far this year, which were carried out by a mix of restricted and non-restricted dogs. The attack on Thursday is believed to have involved English bulldogs, which are not on the restricted list.
The other breeds involved were XL Bully, Bull Mastiff, Pitbull, German Shepherd, Jack Russell, Yorkshire Terrier and Labrador. Some attacks were on people, while others were on a dog or other animal.
A Garda spokesperson said they could not comment on Thursday’s attack, “as there is an ongoing Garda investigation”.
Concerns have been raised about the number of serious dog attacks around the country in recent months.
On June 3, Nicole Morey was killed after two dogs attacked her at her home in Ballyneety, Co Limerick. She had earlier been celebrating her 23rd birthday and had just returned home when the attack happened. One of the dogs, an XL Bully, was shot dead at the scene by gardaí. Three other dogs at the property were later destroyed.
The day before, gardaí received reports of a care worker being attacked by a number of dogs in the Maryland area of south inner-city Dublin. Weeks later, on June 16, a man needed hospital treatment after being attacked by a rottweiler in Co Donegal.
On July 12, Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys announced a ban on XL Bully dogs. From October 1, the importing, breeding, selling and re-homing of such animals will be illegal.
Later today, animal welfare groups will take to St Stephen’s Green in Dublin in protest against the Government’s ban.
More than 400 dog attacks were reported to An Garda Siochána in the first seven months of this year across the country.
Between January and July 8, there were 228 dog attacks on people, 103 on livestock and 116 on other animals including dogs.
There were 738 attacks recorded in 2022 and 850 in 2023. During the previous five years, there were 4,000 attacks reported in total. Gardaí did not have a breakdown of what breeds were involved.
Research carried out by the Department of Agriculture found that thousands of people have been hospitalised over a 10-year period due to dog bites, with evidence showing the number of such attacks is increasing.
Despite this, local authorities are still struggling to clamp down on dangerous dogs, with some failing to issue any fines for restricted breeds being off the leash or unmuzzled in public in the last four years.
Last year, the Government increased on-the-spot fines for offences under the Control of Dogs Act from €100 to €300. However, councils are struggling to enforce legislation due to a lack of dog wardens.
