Fake Fundraiser Set Up For Woman Killed By Rescue Dog That Chewed Her Arm Off In Sleep

A twisted fraudster has created a fake fundraiser page to cash in on the tragic death of a 25-year-old who was mauled to death by her rescue dog.

The victim, identified as Keira Ladlow, was alone at her home in Birmingham, England, on Friday afternoon when the Staffordshire cross dog viciously attacked her.

Just a day after her death, a fake fundraiser page to raise $6,875 for Ladlow's family was set up on GoGetFunding. The victim’s family was alerted about it on Sunday and the page was pulled down. Two people had donated to the cause before the page was shut down.

"It is very common across all crowdfunding platforms, not just ours for fake or copycat campaigns to be created by fraudsters. They will usually use campaigns that are highly emotive such as funerals and memorials or animal cruelty where donors may not be as guarded regarding donating as they may not even consider someone would be heartless enough to create such an account," a spokesperson for GoGetFunding said.

"We have a number of measures in place to try to minimize such campaigns appearing on our site, but it is incredibly difficult to identify all fake campaigns," the spokesperson said.

"If donations have been made (in most cases the first few donations are made by the fraudster themselves to try and make the campaign look genuine), we provide the guidance and support needed to ensure the donors are able to retrieve any donations that have been made via the various payment processors we use," he added.

Ladlow was sleeping when the dog attacked her and chewed one of her arms off. The canine, which the victim had rescued after finding it roaming in a garden, was handed over to the officers to be put down.

"No one else was in the property at the time, and the woman’s family has signed the dog, believed to be a Staffordshire cross, over to police. It will be humanely put to sleep. The death is being treated as a tragic incident, but with no suspicious circumstances. A file will be prepared for the coroner in due course," a police spokesperson said.

Neighbors said the victim was a kickboxer and was good at it.

"She used to be really into it and pretty good. She went to the same gym as my daughter who’s a couple of years younger than her. I haven’t seen her for years now but I remember she was a lovely girl. She was kind, caring and a really nice girl. It’s awful she died the way she did," a neighbor, whose name wasn't revealed, said.