Woman mauled and mutilated by family pit bull in gruesome attack at her home

A pensioner has been killed after she was attacked and eaten in an out-of-the-blue attack by her family's pit bull.

Marina Verriest, 70, died after the 7-year-old dog mutilated her and was still "eating on the body" when she was discovered by her husband in their home in Albertson, Long Island, in the US.

The husband, 66, came home to find his wife's body mutilated and mauled as the dog dragged her through the backyard.

The attack came as a surprise as it was revealed the dog had never caused any previous trouble of note and had never shown signs of wanting to attack Marina.

No reports of a problem with the pit bull had been recorded (NBC New York)

Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said police "don’t know what turned the dog or why the dog turned on the woman".

He added: "There had been no previous domestic calls to the home or calls regarding the dog."

Pit bulls are commonly associated with dog attacks and can turn aggressive if they feel threatened or are unwell. Incidents have been know to occur when a human gets in the middle fo a fight over territory between two dogs or when the dog can smell prey.

An officer shot the dog dead, before being treated for trauma (NBC New York)

The husband made the awful discovery on Wednesday, July 27 and immediately called the police. When responding offers arrived, the dog was shot and killed as it charged at police, before emergency services confirmed Marina's death.

Ryder said: "The wife was on the ground in the backyard, mutilated by the dog.

"The dog turned on our officer, the officer fired at the dog, killing the dog."

It is unclear when exactly the attack took pace, but Marina's body was discovered around 1pm.

The family had endured a recent tragedy when their step-son, who owned the dog, was killed (NBC New York)

Law enforcement do not believe there to be any criminality linked to the incident and have put it down to a tragic event.

Police said they were taking care of the officers who discovered the grisly scene, due to how traumatic it was. It was reported the officer who shot the dog was in hospital receiving treatment for trauma.

Ryder said: "The scene was pretty horrific. We don’t know what time the attack took place but there was obviously a lot of mutilation on the body and the arm, the face, the legs.

"The officer saw something that was very traumatic, we take care of our officers and make sure they’re OK."

Tragedy had recently struck the family after the death of the couple’s step-son, who died in a motorcycle accident mere weeks before.

The dog had belonged to him and had lived with the family its whole life.