An XL Bully owner who was killed by her dog had just come in from celebrating her birthday when she was set upon, it has emerged.
Nicole Morey, 23, died after she was attacked by her pet in the Fedamore area of Limerick on Tuesday.
Ms Morey had been on a night out with family and friends before the incident happened.
Investigators believe that Ms Morey was returning from celebrating her birthday and had just opened her front door when she was mauled by the dog.
Another dog, understood to be a Staffordshire Terrier, also joined in attacking Ms Morey.
It comes as heartbreaking videos emerged of her with her pets in happier times.
One TikTok video captioned ‘my boy’ shows the owner dancing in her kitchen with her dog and laughing. The overlaying audio hauntingly plays: ‘This is my son, and I don’t give a f*** if you think he looks aggressive.’
Posted in December, the footage with the audio continues: ‘I don’t give a f*** if you don’t like the look of him, and I certainly don’t give a f*** if you think the breed should be banned.’
![XL Bully owner Nicole Morey was killed by her dog when she had just come in from a night out](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/06/01/85771593-13499805-XL_Bully_owner_Nicole_Morey_was_killed_by_her_dog_when_she_had_j-a-12_1717632317100.jpg)
XL Bully owner Nicole Morey was killed by her dog when she had just come in from a night out
![Heartbreaking video has emerged of her with the animal in happier times, dancing together](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/06/01/85771595-13499805-Heartbreaking_video_has_emerged_of_her_with_the_animal_in_happie-a-13_1717632319435.jpg)
![Heartbreaking video has emerged of her with the animal in happier times, dancing together](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/06/01/85771591-13499805-Heartbreaking_video_has_emerged_of_her_with_the_animal_in_happie-a-14_1717632322613.jpg)
Heartbreaking video has emerged of her with her pet in happier times, dancing together
![She often posted videos of her pets on social media](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/06/01/85771597-13499805-She_often_posted_videos_of_her_pets_on_social_media-a-15_1717632325287.jpg)
She often posted videos of her pets on social media
![Nicole Morey was savaged by the dog at a house in Co. Limerick at around 11.40pm on Tuesday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/05/12/85742319-13497279-image-a-73_1717588255877.jpg)
Nicole Morey was savaged by the dog at a house in Co. Limerick at around 11.40pm on Tuesday
![Ms Morey is pictured with two pets. It is not known if either of the dogs pictured were involved](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/05/16/85752535-13497279-image-m-3_1717601541577.jpg)
Ms Morey is pictured with two pets. It is not known if either of the dogs pictured were involved
Other videos play a compilation of photos with Ms Morey beaming and hugging her dogs as they lay on her.
Another – posted with the hashtag ‘dogmum’ – shows her doing a TikTok trend with two dogs, feeding them treats according to which one is ‘more protective’ and ‘who is most likely to start an argument’.
Ms Morey previously shared pictures smiling alongside two of her pets. It is not clear if the animals were the ones involved in the attack.
After Gardai were alerted, armed officers shot dead one of the dogs and took control of three others.
The harrowing incident was captured on CCTV, and the footage has been leaked online, with Gardaí urging the public not to share it.
Ms Morey’s heartbroken sister Jolene led the tributes yesterday.
She said: ‘My heart is shattered once again on your birthday. I only hung up on you two seconds before, I really tried my best to help.
‘I’m so sorry Nicole. I love you so much. It feels like a bit of a bad dream.’
Ms Morey had previously posted on a dog behaviour Facebook group seeking advice on how to control the animal.
She wrote: ‘When I go to put my XL on the lead for walks, he’s freaking out, running to the door out of excitement.
‘But nearly too excited for us to even get the lead and collar on him.’
Reacting to the shocking news, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said she now favours banning certain breeds of dog in Ireland, including the XL Bully.
Currently no breeds are banned in Ireland, but there are restrictions on certain breeds – meaning owners must be over 16, the dogs must be muzzled in public, kept on strong leads or a chain and must wear collars at all times, containing the owners contact information.
Asked if she wanted to see an outright ban, Ms McEntee told RTÉ News At One: ‘Personally, I think there should be, yes.
‘Where a dog is known to be potentially vicious… where there is a pattern of particular dogs, then we do need to go further here.
‘This was in a person’s home, so how do we protect people where they have dogs that are restricted, even within their own homes as well?
‘This review group is looking at all of the options here.
‘We need to ensure that nothing like this happens again, this is really, really devastating.’
Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, had already set up a cross Governmental stakeholder group, chaired by the retired Deputy Garda Commissioner John Twomey, to examine this whole area. She said that group’s work is underway.
Speaking from Spain where he was on holidays, Ms Morey’s granduncle, Anthony O’Donnell, 58, said distressed family members telephoned him and delivered the shocking news.
‘She was out for her birthday, she was 23, and, she went home, opened the hall door to go in home when the dog attacked her, jumped out on top of her and attacked her,’ Mr O’Donnell said.
‘By the time the Gardai got there, they (the dogs) were mauling her, the gardai couldn’t really get them off of her, they had to shoot the dog to get him off of her, that’s what I’m hearing from family members that are ringing me,’ he said.
![The 23-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene following the attack on Tuesday night](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/05/12/85742315-13497279-image-m-93_1717588496238.jpg)
The 23-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene following the attack on Tuesday night
![Nicole's sister Jolene posted on Facebook to pay tribute to her, saying: 'My heart is shattered'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/05/12/85742317-13497279-image-m-91_1717588379083.jpg)
Nicole’s sister Jolene posted on Facebook to pay tribute to her, saying: ‘My heart is shattered’
![XL Bullies are not banned in Ireland, but are subject to restrictions such as mandatory muzzles when in public (file image)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/06/05/16/85751481-13497279-image-a-1_1717600284844.jpg)
XL Bullies are not banned in Ireland, but are subject to restrictions such as mandatory muzzles when in public (file image)
Paying tribute, Mr O’Donnell described his grandniece as ‘a lovely girl, with a great heart, would do you a good turn rather than any turn’.
‘She was a decent girl, quiet, she kept to herself.’
Mr O’Donnell said two young women who were staying in the same hotel as him in Spain told him his deceased grandniece was well known for posting photos of herself and the dogs on social media.
‘There’s two young girls here and they know her and they said she used to treat them (the dogs) like babies,’ he said.
‘They said she used to have Snapchats up and Facebook (posts) with the dogs inside in bed with her, that they were like her children.
‘I said to them this morning it just goes to show you can’t trust dogs. You can’t trust any dog, but especially those dogs they are bred to kill.’
Ms Morey died at the scene of the attack despite the best efforts of paramedics who treated her there.
Her body was removed to University Hospital Limerick where a post-mortem exam was to be carried out.
Family friend, Fr Richard Davern, St Mary’s parish, Limerick City, led prayers at St Mary’s Church, Athlunkard, Limerick, in memory of the deceased.
‘We prayed for the poor woman at mass this morning, I buried her grandfather Pa O’Donnell only last February, they are a lovely family from St Mary’s Park,’ Fr Davern said.
The Limerick parish priest said the family were well known in community and sporting circles, and that Ms Morey’s granduncle, Anthony O’Donnell, was awarded the title of Community Volunteer of the Year at the All-Ireland Community and Council Awards, held last March.
‘There are no words to really describe the absolute horror of this. God love them,’ Fr Davern said.
‘Everyone is just shocked, it’s horrific, absolutely horrific,’ he continued.
‘I spoke to one of her former school teachers this morning and they said (Nicole) had a lovely personality.’
‘They said she had ambitions to go back to college and train as a SNA (Special Needs Assistant) and into education, so she had ambitions, the poor girl, god love her, and god love all the first responders and emergency services worker who came upon it and have to deal with the fallout of it.’
Gardai attached to the Scenes of Crime Unit combed areas outside and inside the house yesterday.
Local Gardai had sealed off an entrance gate at the house as well as access to a boreen running alongside the property.
The large two-storey house located on a country road between the villages of Ballyneety and Fedamore, is situated about 18km from Limerick City.
Locals in the idyllic rural hinterland which was plunged into a nightmare also expressed their ‘shock’.
Gardai issued a media alert asking people not to engage in sharing a video linked to the fatal incident with others online.
‘An Garda Síochána is aware of footage of this incident in circulation and out of respect for the deceased, would ask the public and the media not to share these videos,’ read a notice from the Garda Press Office.
Local councillor Brigit Teefy described the incident as ‘terrible’.
‘I was talking to people on the phone and everybody is horrified,’ she told the PA news agency.
‘It’s a horrific story. It’s so rare that there’s an occurrence like that.’
Councillor Conor Sheehan said the incident was ‘very, very tragic’ and that his sympathies go out to the woman’s family.
Councillor Adam Teskey said there was shock among locals and said his sympathies are with the family of the woman.
‘This is a harrowing moment in our community,’ he said.
There are several restricted breeds in Ireland, including German shepherds, rottweilers and various bull terriers, as well as some crosses.
Restricted dogs must be kept collared with their owner’s information on a tag, muzzled in public and on a short, strong lead with someone over the age of 16 who is able to control them.
A Gardai spokesperon said: ‘At approximately 11.40pm last night, Tuesday 4th June 2024, Gardaí received report and attended an incident where a woman (23) was fatally injured following a dog attack at a domestic residence in Ballyneety, Co. Limerick.
‘The woman was pronounced deceased at the scene by medical personnel.’
They added: ‘Her body has been removed from the scene to Mid Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, where a Post Mortem examination will take place.