Sheffield 'dog shooting' Fox Lane: Everything we know after dog is reportedly shot dead by police

Officers were called to the fields behind Hollinsend Cricket Club off Fox Lane, near the Birley Estate, at around 4.15pm yesterday, Monday, October 31, to reports a woman had been bitten by the animal, described by some as a mastiff. Residents in the area told The Star they believed the victim was the dog’s owner – but this has not yet been confirmed by police. Shortly after officers arrived, residents say they heard gunshots coming from the scene.

One nearby resident told The Star he saw a large number of police cars arriving at the park at mid-afternoon. He described how there were armed officers carrying what he thought were ‘shotguns’.

What did residents around Fox Lane see and hear?

He said: “There were lots of sirens, and at least 10 cars. I saw armed police behind officers with shields walking across the fields, and it looked as though they were trying to do some sort of containment. The armed officers looked as though they had shotguns. Paramedics also arrived at the scene, as officers ‘swept’ through the park.

"I heard what I thought was one shot, and then it went quiet. Two minutes later, they jumped in their police cars and went round to Thornbridge Drive, and my friend told me they appeared there. He said he thought he heard two shots, and then another two.”

Another witness told The Star she saw several people with dogs being asked to provide statements to police officers near the Hollinsend Cricket Club pavilion. As evening fell, a section of the wooded part of the park remained sealed off by a police cordon for several hours. A police car remained on the scene with officers inside and its headlamps on.

How is the woman who was attacked?

Meanwhile, community pages on Facebook say the woman in the incident was taken to hospital and remains there today. South Yorkshire Police and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service have both been approached for comment.

The cordon remained in place as children were making their way home from nearby schools, leaving some shocked youngsters to find alternative routes home.

A Freedom of Information request by The Star in August revealed there have been as many as 700 dog attacks reported to police in Sheffield since 2019, leading to 211 dogs being destroyed after they were seized by officers.

What other dog attacks have there been in Sheffield and South Yorkshire?

It marks a considerable rise in the number of attacks over the last three-and-a-half years, with 161 offences recorded in 2019, 178 reported in 2020, 209 logged last year and 115 recorded in the first six months of 2022.

In July 15, a 43-year-old Rotherham mum Joanne Robinson died after she was mauled by an American XL ‘bully’ bulldog at a house on Masefield Road. A 42-year-old man was also seriously injured in the incident.

Other recent incidents include when 12-year-old Keeley Leigh was left unable to walk after an attack by a dog on Bloomhill Road in Doncaster in March. In the same month, a postal worker was ‘almost killed’ while delivering mail on Hill Top Crescent in Sheffield after a dog attack, and a Doncaster boy was left in a wheelchair following an attack in Intake in October 2021.