Manitoba girl, 10, mauled to death by dogs in Lac Brochet

A 10-year-old girl is dead after being mauled by two dogs in Lac Brochet, Man., a small First Nations community in the far northern part of the province.

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Community members found the girl badly injuredandRCMP officers were called to the scene around 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The girl was rushed to a nursing station where she was pronounced dead, RCMP said.

Family members confirmedthe girlwasRacquelle Tssessaze.

Laura Tssessaze told CBC News she is devastated to have to bury her young granddaughter, whom she described asa sweet little girl.

"Very kind ... always a smile on her face," she said.

Tssessazesaid shehas calledRacquelle"Little Six" since she was born, because the child was born with six fingers.

Tssessaze saidRacquellewas walking to a taekwondo class after school with two other girls when the attack happened.

The two girls ran back to school to get help.Jack Denechezeheard about the attack and raced there on hissnowmobile.

"When I got there, she was laying on the ground already, on the snow, hardly breathing," he said. "And I chased the dogs away and I pick her up and took [her] to the nursing station."

He said he did what he could, but the girl died on the way to the nursing station.

"I was taking her and I guess that's when she lost her, her last breath," Denechezesaid.

Denedchezhesaid the dogs belonged to his brother and have since been put down.

I was taking her and I guess that's when she lost her, her last breath.- JackDenecheze

Tssessaze said just a couple days before the attack, communitymembersraised concerns afteranother girl was chased by a couple of stray dogs.

She said the incident was reported to Lac Brochet's chief and council, but nothing was done. She saidnow, they want to know why.

"When things happen, they happen, but there's also ... prevention, you know. It could have been prevented," she said.

Instead of celebrating Easter, the family is planning the girl's funeral.

"We shouldn't be burying a child or grandchild at this time," Laura said.

Officers are investigatingand an autopsy has been ordered.

Tssessaze said grief councillors were to be at the school Thursday to help the children and the community cope.

Racquelle's death is the second fatal mauling in amonthin Manitoba. In late March, a seven-year-old girl was mauled to death by two Alaskan malamute dogs in Oakbank.

Those dogs, owned by a friend of the family, were later euthanized.

"When things happen, they happen, but there's also ... prevention, you know. It could have been prevented," she said.
Instead of celebrating Easter, the family is planning the girl's funeral.
"We shouldn't be burying a child or grandchild at this time," Laura said.