KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A 71-year-old woman died Thursday when she was attacked by a pit bull in Kansas City, Kan., officials said.

Jimmie May McConnell was in her garden about 11:30 a.m. when the dog jumped the fence and attacked her.

Firefighters had to hit the dog with an ax and a pole to get it off McConnell, officials said.

"The dog was still on the victim," Assistant Fire Chief Craig Duke said.

McConnell was taken to the University of Kansas Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Neighbors said McConnell was so badly injured they could hardly recognize her when she was pulled from the garden.

Residents said the dog belonged to a neighbor.

Animal control officers tranquilized the pit bull and took the animal into custody. A second pit bull at the house was tranquilized and removed Thursday afternoon, KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Mo., reported.

"It gets out once in a while and runs around. I was out here once, and it came up and I petted it," neighbor Preston Williams said.

"I think they need to get rid of all of them dogs. Don't need them killing human beings," said the Rev. John Boykin, a neighbor of McConnell's.

"I'm in shock, and I'm angry," said Gayle McConnell, the victim's niece. "It's been said that pit bulls can be dangerous, but people seem to believe it can't happen to them. It certainly can. I just wish people would heed the warning and do what they need to do."

Friends of McConnell said she was well-liked in the neighborhood and had lived in the area a long time.

"She was a nice lady," Williams said.

Gayle McConnell said her aunt was a great cook and an awesome singer, and her death is an enormous loss to the family.

McConnell leaves behind six children. McConnell was a school crossing guard and was a foster parent for several years.

McConnell's son said his mother had been terrified of the neighbor's dogs for a while.

"She was so scared of the dogs. This has gone on for over a year. Those dogs have acted like they want to come through that fence," Chris McConnell told KMBC. "She worked in the garden every day, and they would growl and bark aggressively at her. She said, 'One day, one of those dogs are going to get me.' They finally got her."

KMBC reported that this wasn't the first time that neighbors have had problems with this neighbor's dogs. According to a representative with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, animal control officers found two pit bulls at the neighbor's home in 2004.

Code enforcement officers deemed the neighbor's house uninhabitable because there are no utilities hooked up inside.

Pit bulls are banned in Wyandotte County, Kan., where the attack took place.

Police said they have not been able to contact the dog's owner. Officials said they are investigating the case as a homicide.

Several recent pit bull attacks in nearby Independence, Mo., have injured three men. A pit bull was also recently shot to death in Independence when it charged a police officer.

Toddler Dies After Dog Attack In Texas

A toddler in South Texas has died after being mauled by at least one of the family's pit bulls.

The Hidalgo County, Texas, sheriff's department identified the victim as 3-year-old Mariah Puga, of Hargill, Texas.

Investigators said as many as three dogs may have been involved in Monday night's attack, when the child was in the yard.

Puga died early Tuesday at a hospital.

Officials said the two pit bulls and a rottweiler were quarantined.

Authorities also said one of the pit bulls had her puppies with her in the yard.

Woman Serious After Dog Attack

A 26-year-old Davidson County, N.C., woman is in serious condition after she was attacked by two pit bull dogs.

Police in Lexington said they found Kelly Lynn Bell lying in a ditch Thursday with several severe dog bites on her body. She was taken to a hospital for surgery.

Authorities are holding the dogs while they investigate the incident, and no charges have been filed yet.