Young boy mauled to death by pitbulls as crowd of 15 people 'stood by and watched'

Neighbours say they were helpless as the unidentified boy wandered into the dogs' enclosure to chase after his ball

The house where a seven-year-old boy was mauled to death by pitbulls in Lowell, Massachusetts

A seven-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pair of pitbulls after he tired to retrieve a ball from their enclosure.

Neighbours said they were helpless as the child was mauled by the creatures.

“Everybody was screaming, nobody knew what to do," David Swiniarski told local news channel CBS Boston after the incident in Lowell, Massachusetts. “Probably 15 people just watching it happen, nothing anyone could do.”

But they were divided on how the boy had entered the pitbulls' enclosure.

Nilda Garcia said: “The kid was playing with a ball, it was about six or seven kids and the ball went through the fence. He jumped the fence and the dog grabbed him and killed him.”

But Bill Brettancourt suggested the boy had leaned over the fence and "the dog grabbed him and pulled him over the fence."

He added: "The boy did not go in there on his own.”

Both suggested the dogs were owned by an Iraq war veteran.

The boy's auntie, Michelle Reedy, said the dogs "should have been muzzled" (WBZ-TV/CBS Boston) (© WBZ-TV)

(WBZ-TV/CBS Boston)

The unidentified boy’s Auntie, Michelle Ready, told the channel that “the pitbulls should have been muzzled."

She added: "He was a good kid, we do miss him.

Following the incident one of the dogs was euthanised by police, while the second animal is being held by animal control officials.

Police did not initially charge the owner after the attack.