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Pregnant Pacifica Woman Killed In Dog Mauling At Her Home

PACIFICA (CBS SF / KCBS) –- A pregnant Pacifica woman died following a mauling by her dog at her home Thursday, police said.

Pacifica police officers found an unresponsive 32-year-old Darla Napora lying in the front room not breathing when they responded to a home in the 500 block of Reina Del Mar Avenue shortly after 12:15 p.m.

The victim's husband had come home from work and found their 2-year-old male pit bull hovering over his wife's body.

Officers began performing CPR before Pacifica Fire Department and San Mateo County paramedics arrived and pronounced her dead at the scene.

As the woman was being treated, the pit bull escaped from the backyard and approached the first responders, police said. Officers shot and killed the dog.

There was a second dog in the backyard, and it and the deceased dog were taken to the Peninsula Humane Society for examination.

An autopsy for the woman and a necropsy for the dog are scheduled for Friday.

KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports:

The deadly mauling has once again brought to light the question of whether pit bulls should be spayed and neutered.

Jason Walthall, co-president of the San Francisco SPCA, said the procedure reduces overpopulation and especially in male dogs, can reduce aggressiveness and territoriality.

San Francisco adopted a breed-specific pitbull spay and neuter law following a deadly mauling 10 years ago.

"It is undeniable that it has been effective. It has reduced the number of pitbulls coming into our shelters," Walthall said. "But it has not solved the problem. Pitbulls are still dramatically overrepresented in our shelters."

Pacifica City Manager Steve Rhodes said the city has heard from concerned residents.

"The issue will come to the council and they are the ones who would make the determination of a direction that we would go," said Rhodes.

The spayed female dog, which was also in the Pacifica home at the time, is not believed to be involved in the attack, but has been taken in for evaluation.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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