6 year-old boy mauled to death by abandoned pit bull

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A six-year-old boy has been mauled to death by an abandoned dog his mum found and was trying to rehome.

Cameron Hatfield was attacked by the pit bull at his family home in South Carolina days after his mum took him in as a stray.

Police were called to the scene last Wednesday but the little boy, who was known affectionately as Jayce, was already dead when they arrived.

On January 15 Jayce's mum Victoria LaBar wrote a Facebook post saying she had found the dog on her property and suspected may have been dumped by hunters in the area who no longer wanted to care for him.

She described the dog as a "sweet boy' and had asked for someone to give him a new home.

Hours after his death the distraught mum explained what had happened in a Facebook Live video.

Victoria sobbed throughout the 90 second clip as she said the family had been taking care of the stray pit bull while she tried to find him a new home.

“My six-year old little boy was attacked early this afternoon by the pit bull that I had been trying to find a home for," she said.

"It had been abandoned on our property.

"I was an advocate for pit bulls and what happened today happened so fast that there was nothing that anyone could do."

Victoria said the dog had been behaving well with her family and small animals until the "unexpected' attack which was over within “a second.”

Appealing for the family to be left to mourn, she added: "It doesn't feel real that we will wake up tomorrow and our son won't be here," she added.

Victoria also updated her earlier Facebook post to let people know Jayce had been killed by the dog.

She wrote: "It took was a second and he ended my boys life. My other dog and husband even tried to get the dog off my boy.

"Whoever you are the you dropped your trained to kill hunting dog off and thought nothing of the consequences of your action."

The dog has been put down and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) are investigating Cameron's death.