A married mother was brutally torn apart by a pack of wild dogs on her way to work after making a desperate last phone call begging for help as she fled for her life.
Zhanna Khusainova was discovered in a patch of wasteland in the Russian city of Kazan after she failed to turn up to work at a supermarket.
The 48-year-old was covered in bites with one leg severed and her scalp missing after being mauled by the hounds.
CCTV footage before the fatal attack showed her hurrying to work in a dark green jacket carrying a brown handbag.
But it was just seconds later when the trained aviation engineer was viciously attacked by dozens of dogs.
Zhanna Khusainova was discovered in a patch of wasteland in the Russian city of Kazan after she failed to turn up to work at a supermarket
She was brutally torn apart by a pack of stray dogs on her way to work. Pictured are her last moments, seconds before the attack
The trained aviation engineer was viciously attacked by dozens of dogs. One is pictured above
Ms Khusainova, 48, was on her way to work when her path took her past a shelter
They were strays living in a shelter close to an industrial site on her route.
She made a desperate call to emergency services moments before she was overpowered and savaged to death.
But the line was bad and the operator initially thought she was reporting a fire in a sauna.
She told them ‘dogs are attacking me’ but the operator asked: ‘What is burning? Is the sauna on fire?’
Ms Khusainova – who has a 15-year-old daughter – then pleaded for help as barking was heard in the background: ‘Dogs attacked me, a lot…No, dogs are attacking, help! Help.’
She explained she was near an industrial base in Kazan, but then the line went dead.
Police were alerted but it was too late to save her and her mauled body was found hours later, after dark.
The mother-of-one’s boot is pictured with teeth marks from the dogs
She had dropped her phone as she ran for her life with the dogs chasing her
It appeared that she had dropped her phone as she ran for her life with the dogs chasing her.
Locals had complained about the dogs at the site previously.
Deputy mayor Iskander Giniyatullin said: ‘I believe it is necessary to maintain composure and wait for the results of the investigation, based on which the necessary conclusions will be made.
‘I offer my sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased woman.’
A report by the local edition of Mash media said the dogs suspected of attacking the tragic woman had been put down.
As Vladimir Putin funds his war on Ukraine, cuts to local services have led to a sharp rise in attacks by neglected stray dogs which roam free in many towns and cities.
In May last year, it was announced Russia was considering rounding up stray dogs and using them to clear landmines.
Many towns and cities have problems with rejected pets and street dogs that hunt in packs.
The married mother’s remains were found with one leg missing, and her scalp removed
Three stray dogs with polluted fur in Podolsk, near the centre of Moscow. Russia has battled a stray dog problem for years
Senior pro-Putin MP Fedot Tumusov, 67, demanded ‘large and aggressive’ strays should be trained by specialists for war work.
Such a role clearing mines would put their lives in acute danger.
‘We have a lot of dog experts in our country who can teach [strays] all sorts of different skills,’ said the politician.
He asked the government if ‘dog experts could train large and aggressive dogs and send them to the SMO [war] zone’.
SMO refers to the ‘special military operation’ that Russia uses for the invasion of Ukraine, where it strives for the ‘demilitarisation and denazification’ of the country.
The Just Russia party MP said: ‘Let them help pull out the wounded, and participate in mine clearance.’
Earlier this year, authorities ruled that the stray dog problem had become so bad that the animals had to be put down.
This followed a 12-year-old girl who did from her injuries when she was attacked by a pack of ’10 to 15′ strays.
More than 150 stray dogs were reportedly roaming around the village at the time of the attack.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
