Grandmother dies from sepsis after pet dog licked wound on her leg, inquest hears

Daily Mail​

23-07-2025

A pensioner died from an infection caused when her granddaughter's affectionate dog licked a wound on her leg, an inquest has heard.
June Baxter, 83, had used a personal alarm to summon help after a fall at her home last month.
Her granddaughter, Caitlan Allin, rushed over with her pet, arriving shortly before paramedics turned up and dressed the wound.
Mrs Baxter, a retired legal secretary, began to feel unwell the following day and was taken to hospital the following morning, where she died from septic shock a week later.
Blood cultures showed she had pasteurella multocida in her system, an organism found in the mouth of dogs.
Norfolk coroner Johanna Thompson recorded a conclusion of accidental death after Miss Allin said in a statement that she 'did not see her dog lick Mrs Baxter's injury' but accepted it was a 'possibility' as she enjoyed the pet's attention.
The medical cause of death was given as 'septic shock due to left leg cellulitis due to a domestic dog lick'.
A family member, who didn't want to be named, told the Mail the dog had belonged to Mrs Baxter for seven years before she became too frail to look after it and gave it to Miss Allin.
They said: 'She was in palliative care for the last year of her life. She had about ten medical issues.
'She injured her leg. The dog didn't cause the injury or bite her or anything.
'We don't know if the dog had licked her leg a few days before [the fall] or anything.'
However, research has shown that pasteurella multocida – which is the most common cause of infection in humans following bites or scratches from dogs and cats – cannot survive more than 24 hours in the open air at room temperature, suggesting the infection occurred on the day of the fall.
The inquest, in Norwich, heard how Mrs Baxter, whose husband Ken died about five years ago after a long illness, fell while using a commode at her small detached bungalow on the outskirts of Attleborough on June 29.
She pressed her community call bell, which alerted Miss Allin, who lives in the same market town and was her main carer.
Miss Allin arrived with the dog at around 8.30am - just before paramedics entered and used tweezers to reposition the torn skin and dress the wound.
Mrs Baxter started to feel sick on June 30 and was taken to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital the following day, where her condition deteriorated and she passed away on July 7.
Secondary causes of death were given as kidney, liver and heart conditions.
The widow's daughter, Clare Wootten, said in a statement to the inquest yesterday that her 'independent and determined' mother had survived sepsis previously.
Clinicians at the hospital had explained to her that the 'infection was from the mouth of a dog' and she 'agreed with the cause of the death'.
Mrs Baxter's family were not at the inquest but the coroner confirmed they had seen the evidence and were content for the hearing to take place in their absence.
Neighbours in Mrs Baxter's quiet cul-de-sac told the Mail she had three dogs which were given to family members when she became too ill to look after them.
One said: 'Her granddaughter came down with the dog most of the time.
'If it was the dog that licked her, it wasn't her granddaughter's fault. She had a fall and her granddaughter got called. Either way, it was an accident.'
Ms Thompson concluded the inquest saying: 'Mrs Baxter was in frail health. On June 29, she was found to have injured her leg at home.
'On the following day, she reported feeling unwell. She was taken to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital where she was diagnosed with an infection which was subsequently identified to be arising from a domestic dog lick.'
Pasteurella multocida was found in cholera-infected birds in 1878 but was only isolated two years later by Louis Pasteur – the French microbiologist renowned for his work in pasteurisation and vaccination – and subsequently named after him.