Noelle Baynham Owned A Staffordshire Bull Terrier Like This One Shown In Photo
IN PHOTO: Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in London August 2, 2010. The charity, which rehouses stray dogs, said it was forced to put down one-third of the dogs it took in in 2009, despite more than half of them being healthy, as their behaviours posed safety risks. The animal shelter said the issue of stray, aggressive dogs needs to be tackled because a growing number of healthy dogs are being put down as they are too dangerous to rehome. Reuteres/Toby Melville

A UK inquest was told that a woman from Winchester was eaten by her dogs in her own home, after her remains went undiscovered for days. Noelle Baynham, a 61-year old former jeweller, was discovered in January already dead from a suspected stroke.

A close friend, Grant Donovan, went to visit to check up on her but got no reply when he rang the doorbell. Instead, he only heard the dogs barking and scratching at the front door. When Donovan got in through the back door, he found Baynham’s body and described it as “"the most horrifying thing” he had ever seen.

The cause of death could not be determined because the dogs have eaten parts of the internal organs. However, Southern Daily Echo reported that there was evidence of drug overdose.

According to the inquest, Baynham was left with her two dogs, a Staffordshire bull terrier and a Jack Russell, which may have tried to wake her up before starting to consume her flesh as evidenced by the scratch marks found on her body.

Dr Amada Jeffery, the pathologist assigned to the case, told the court that Baynham may have already been dead a few days before her body was discovered and that she had suffered alcohol dependency and bipolar disorder.

Baynham was prescribed with different kinds of medication. Blood tests performed found that there was a variety of drugs in her system, including high levels of painkillers. Senior central Hampshire coroner Graham Short ruled out suicide or accidental fall, but said stroke could be a possible cause.

“The horrific element in this case is what happened after death rather than before, and it's entirely plausible that when there are dogs in the house with no one to care for them, that they will then start to eat her remains,” he said.

“That clearly was a major hindrance to Dr Jeffery in her examination, and as she's explained, she was not able to look at her important organs and she could not establish a clear cause of death.”

The stroke may have been caused by drug overdose. The dogs named Ollie and Pip were put down as police had instructed.

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