Elderly woman 'partially eaten' by neighbour's dogs after falling over in her driveway

The elderly woman was walking down her driveway in Livingston Parish, Louisiana on Tuesday when she stumbled and was set upon by her neighbour's dogs, which had previously bitten other people

An elderly woman was savagely mauled by her neighbour's dogs after tripping over on her driveway, with horrified witnesses describing the animals "eating her".

On Tuesday, the woman - who has not been identified - was set on by the pack of canines as she struggled to get up after her tumble at her home in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.

Describing the horrific scenes, neighbour Randall Averette said: "When I went over there, she was laying on the ground, paramedics bandaging her up.

"The paramedics said she was torn up pretty good around her calf, her right leg was bit, her arm was bit and the dog bit her on the back of her neck."

Cheryl Boudreaux, the daughter of another witness, said that her mother could be heard screaming out for help as the dogs started mauling the elderly woman.

"She was like, "Y'all need to hurry up and get here. Hurry up and get here. They are eating this woman. Then, Mama said the lady wasn't moving and Mama thought she was dead," Cheryl said.

The victim was taken to hospital for urgent care, with cops then swooping in on the owner of the dogs, Maria Vincent, and charging her with negligent injury and for allowing her dogs to run rampant.

Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard issued a stark warning to dog owners, stating: "You can be charged with negligent injuring and you can be sued by these homeowners for medical bills. It's going to come back to bite you, that's what's going to happen."

Ard also explained that the woman had previously been cited for incidents involving her dogs, with them having bitten someone on one occasion. On that occasion, investigators could not determine which dog was responsible. Ard added: "She's been through the system already, she's been fined. Here we are again, same dog, same situation. Now someone's seriously hurt, something has got to change."

Cheryl claimed that her mother had also been bitten by the dangerous dogs. She said: "My mum is 85 years old, both times she required medical attention.

"We're just furious, you know, because we don't understand why it had to get to this," she disclosed to the news station. They finally took the dogs away, that's the first time."

Ard said the three dogs involved in Tuesday's incident had been transported to the Livingston Parish Animal Control Center on Wednesday. The owner surrendered them voluntarily, he said.

The future of the surrendered canines is yet to be determined. Ard said members of the public should be aware of steps they can take to defend themselves against an aggressive dog. "You do whatever you think is necessary," he said. "You have a right to protect you, your property, your kids."