Tragic final days of mum-of-two eaten by beloved sausage dogs who ‘were her life’
A woman’s body was partially eaten by her pet dachshunds as she tragically lay undiscovered in her home.
Jemma Hart, 45, was found dead in her home in Swindon on January 29, 2024 after neighbours raised their concerns, having not seen her for around a month, an inquest heard. The mum-of-two hadn’t been seen by local residents since Christmas 2023, leading them to sound the alarm and report her absence to the police.
Jemma, who was a dog lover, lived with her two pets in Wiltshire. According to her son, she’d often be seen walking her beloved pets – who were described as being “her life”. Speaking at the inquest, he said: “She’d had dogs in the past but in 2022 she got a dachshund called Frankie and a year later she got another one called Millie. The dogs were her life.”
Neighbours recalled how they’d regularly pass Jemma with her dogs, and the pets could often be heard in her back garden. They became concerned when Jemma failed to open a text message and one of her dogs was heard whimpering from inside the house.
A neighbour identified only as Lorraine has told how Jemma intended to breed her dogs and sell the puppies, while claiming that one of the animals was aggressive. “Jemma told me she was going to breed her dachshunds and sell the puppies,” the 66-year-old told the Mail Online. “The brown one, Milly, was still a puppy [and] was a lovely dog. But the black one, Frankie, was vicious. He didn’t like people or other dogs.”
Lorraine also reportedly said: “Jemma had mental health problems and was a troubled soul. It was the dogs that caused me to go round there. I knocked on the door because I could hear the dogs barking but there was no answer.
“So, I tried the key she had given me but I couldn’t unlock the door because there was a key on the inside of the lock. I went home and I ummed and ahhed. Then I thought ‘I’ll ask the police to make a welfare check’. And that’s when they found her.”
Jemma experienced several health and mobility issues which caused her to stop working and she struggled with physical pain and insomnia. Jemma, who’d lived in the property for 10 years, was found by police. One of her dogs was also found deceased, while the other was discovered in a “distressed condition”.
A police officer who visited the scene reported that the dogs had been eating her body following her passing, the inquest was told. No other obvious injuries were discovered, and Jemma’s death wasn’t believed to be suspicious.
Coroner Ian Singleton told the inquest: “On January 29, Wiltshire Police was contacted by Jemma’s neighbours with concerns that they hadn’t seen her since Christmas. Officers went to her home and found her deceased in the living room. One of her dogs was also found dead at the scene and the other was in a distressed condition.”
A post-mortem report confirmed that Jemma had sadly died from suicide. Mr Singleton continued: “Jemma lived alone with her two dogs in Swindon and she was estranged from her family. Jemma was found in her home with injuries caused by dogs after she died. Her death has been recorded as suicide.”
Jemma had been known to Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health team, though had not had contact with them for many years.
For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
Calling all dog lovers! Sign up to TeamDogs for your weekly dose of dog news, pictures and stories.