Killer pit bull was an illegal "dangerous dog"

LONDON (Reuters) - Police said on Tuesday the dog that savaged a four-year-old boy in Liverpool to death was an illegal pit bull type terrier and apologised for not chasing up warnings about the house where the attack occurred.

John Paul Massey died after from injuries after being attacked by the dog at a house in the Wavertree area of the city on Monday while a 63-year-old woman who tried to stop the animal was injured.

The dog was destroyed at the scene.

Police said an independent expert has confirmed the dog was a prohibited breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act which bans the possession of certain types of dogs that are bred for fighting and a criminal investigation had been launched.

"Ascertaining the type of dog involved in this attack has been a complex issue," said Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Patricia Gallan of Merseyside Police.

"It has taken some time to complete the examinations and post mortem before we have been able to confirm that it is an illegal type of dog."

Gallan said she was "concerned and very disappointed" that officers had not followed up a warning in February that pit bulls were being bred at the house where the attack took place.

"This is clearly unacceptable and we are sorry that Merseyside Police did not take the appropriate course of action at that time," she said.

"As a matter of urgency we began an immediate internal investigation to establish exactly what led to that call not being brought to the attention of our specialist dog unit."

The matter had now been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Nearly 200 illegal dogs were seized or handed over to police in the Liverpool area in the months after a pit-bull terrier killed a 5-year-old girl near the city in 2007. (Reporting by Michael Holden)