A baby in Hanoi died just after several hours being seriously bitten by her family’s large Tibetan dog.

The family of the eight-month-old girl said that she was attacked by a Tibetan Mastiff raised in her home in Ba Dinh District on July 14 while being left with the animal.

Hearing cries for help, her mother stopped housework suddenly and rushed to extricate the daughter from the bite of the unmuffled 40-kilogram dog, but failed to free her immediately.

The pet even gave the woman multiple wounds in the hands.

The child was taken to the local Viet Duc University Hospital while having no palpable pulse and measurable blood pressure, Le Viet Khanh, deputy head of the infirmary’s Digestive Emergency Department, said on Thursday.

She was also suffering from brain bleeding, head injuries and copious bleeding on the temples, Khanh said.

The baby died from loss of blood and severe injuries only two hours after being admitted to the institution, although doctors made their greatest efforts, Khanh said.

He added that the victim’s family did not know whether she was teasing the dog right before the attack.

Enormous in adulthood, the Tibetan Mastiff may be used as a home or herd guardian and have been owned by many wealthy Vietnamese families in recent years as a fashionable luxury pet.