LA - Parents Sleep As Pup Chews Off Baby's Toes

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Vet Thinks 6-Week-Old Puppy Tried To Nurse

BOSSIER CITY, La. -- A Louisiana couple is facing negligence charges after a puppy chewed off four of a baby girl's toes.


They told police they were awakened by their 1-month-old baby's cries on Sunday morning, saw her mangled foot and rushed her to the hospital. But doctors couldn't reattach the toes.


A veterinarian speculates the 6-week-old pit bull puppy might have been trying to nurse.


"She had a severe injury to one foot, with most of the toes missing," Bossier City spokesman Mark Natale told The Shreveport Times. "Patrol officers who responded notified detectives, and after our juvenile detectives unit looked into it, they determined the child, who had been sleeping in a baby carrier next to her parents, had been bitten by the family's pit bull puppy, who appears to have gnawed on the child's foot."


Natale told the newspaper that the parents took a mattress into their living room to watch television and fell asleep. The child was in an infant seat beside them when the pup began chewing on her toes.


http://www.wjactv.com/news/10514915/detail.html
 
I am not sure what to think of this one yet. Sounds like they weren't doing a good job at keeping puppy fed, otherwise, it wouldn't have eaten the baby's foot.
 
That poor baby! I guess they slept right through the baby screaming....
 
SewingDeb said:
That poor baby! I guess they slept right through the baby screaming....
I don't ge that, every time one of mine cries I am immediatley awake. Especially when they are right next to me like this one was. i wonder if alcohol or drugs may be involved.
 
I was wondering about alcohol or drugs too. I am sure I could not sleep that soundly with the baby right next to me screaming. Surely the baby would not have been silent during all of this!
 
SewingDeb said:
I was wondering about alcohol or drugs too. I am sure I could not sleep that soundly with the baby right next to me screaming. Surely the baby would not have been silent during all of this!
i know, I would think the screaming would be awful. I don't know what a baby that small sounds like in pain but I can only assume it is loud and frantic.
 
I have a stupid question. Does anyone know at what point after birth these dogs get teeth?

I'm just wondering if this was a slow gum gnawing or sharp teeth chewing.

Either way, of course, it's ridiculous that it got that far without the parents waking up. Why have a pit bull in the same room as a little baby anyway?:doh:
 
Taximom said:
I have a stupid question. Does anyone know at what point after birth these dogs get teeth?

I'm just wondering if this was a slow gum gnawing or sharp teeth chewing.

Either way, of course, it's ridiculous that it got that far without the parents waking up. Why have a pit bull in the same room as a little baby anyway?:doh:
When we got our dog at 8 weeks old had all of his teeth, but they fell out like baby teeth. I am not sure if that is the norm or not but thats how our dog was.
 
Hate to rush to judgment but these parents must be brain-dead. Why wasn't the baby in a proper crib? How could they sleep through this? No way the infant wouldn't be screaming.

Also, sorry, but when are people going to wise up about pit bulls?

I know I may get flamed for this but my veterinarian father (and grandfather before him) is vehement about certain breeds and their predisposition for biting humans. Also he is adament that once they cross the line and do bite humans...it should be bye bye doggie.

I am NOT talking about when a dog is defending puppies, itself or is abused by humans.

Animals are animals. Dogs are amazingly receptive to domesticating - more than perhaps any other animal, dogs are linked to people. But they are still animals and are unpredictable - obviously, even puppies. Puppies have no training and have to be supervised.

Good grief, what next? That poor baby.

Eve
 
yeah, I didn't want to say anything either Eve but pitbulls are not the dog for families with young kids. They are too unpredictable and violent. Where we live there are a certain type who get pitbulls and they are usually used for fighting.
 
2sisters said:
I don't ge that, every time one of mine cries I am immediatley awake. Especially when they are right next to me like this one was. i wonder if alcohol or drugs may be involved.
With a pup that age it's more likely to be boredom or teething* than hunger. :eek: Still want to :slap: the parents though. Why wasn't that baby in a crib?! :mad: Why wasn't that puppy put elsewhere, with teething toys?! (Like in a crate, or another room, *not* the room the baby is sleeping in!) :mad:

*Puppies get "baby teeth" then later on, they begin to "teeth" and break in their adult teeth. It is at this stage that they are most destructive, they chew EVERYTHING, they have a huge urge to do so. It is very important to monitor them, and give them the proper toys to chew so they don't burn the house down by chewing on wires, or chew something poisonous, or chew and eat something that can cause a bowel obstruction. Definitely you don't leave a teething puppy to roam freely in a houseful of things that can be damaged/put the pup in danger if chewed. They *will* chew!
 
So sad. One of the vets in the story said it would have taken at least an hour for the dog to chew off 4 of this child's toes. Don't you think the baby would have been wailing like a banshee? Why didn't the parents wake up?
 
eve said:
Hate to rush to judgment but these parents must be brain-dead. Why wasn't the baby in a proper crib? How could they sleep through this? No way the infant wouldn't be screaming.

Also, sorry, but when are people going to wise up about pit bulls?

I know I may get flamed for this but my veterinarian father (and grandfather before him) is vehement about certain breeds and their predisposition for biting humans. Also he is adament that once they cross the line and do bite humans...it should be bye bye doggie.

I am NOT talking about when a dog is defending puppies, itself or is abused by humans.

Animals are animals. Dogs are amazingly receptive to domesticating - more than perhaps any other animal, dogs are linked to people. But they are still animals and are unpredictable - obviously, even puppies. Puppies have no training and have to be supervised.

Good grief, what next? That poor baby.

Eve
I would think that any puppy or kitten even would be kept away from a newborn, right?!

Sounds like the parents didn't have much furniture if they are moving their mattress into the living room to watch tv. Maybe they didn't have a crib either.

I hope Child Protective Services is really looking into things here.:furious:
 
Taximom said:
I have a stupid question. Does anyone know at what point after birth these dogs get teeth?

I'm just wondering if this was a slow gum gnawing or sharp teeth chewing.

Either way, of course, it's ridiculous that it got that far without the parents waking up. Why have a pit bull in the same room as a little baby anyway?:doh:

At six weeks the puppy had a full set of teeth. Also, that is the age where they gnaw on everything...nothing is safe. The puppy was just doing what puppies do at that age. A pit bull at that age seems pretty benign and they probably thought nothing of having the puppy in the room with the baby but the puppy should not have been able to reach the baby.

I still have a hard time believing that sober sleeping parents could sleep through the baby screaming in pain.
 
2sisters said:
I don't ge that, every time one of mine cries I am immediatley awake. Especially when they are right next to me like this one was. i wonder if alcohol or drugs may be involved.
Drugs is the only explanation that makes sense for sleeping through that. A vet in the article stated that it would take an hour for this puppy to have chewed off more toes. Wht a tragic story.
 
2sisters said:
I am not sure what to think of this one yet. Sounds like they weren't doing a good job at keeping puppy fed, otherwise, it wouldn't have eaten the baby's foot.
It sounds like they weren't doing a good job of anything, pet care, or parenting. Honestly, some people just aren't fit to breathe air. This poor child is going to have to bear the marks of her parent's stupidity the rest of her life. :furious:
 
OMG! That poor baby! I thought the same thing South (about the parents not waking up). My fiance slept through an earthquake so I believe it is possible (I'm praying drugs were not involved and they are just overly sound sleepers).

They couldn't reattach the toes either. :(

I love Pitt Bulls and used to do foster care through my local humane society for that breed specifically.

These are wonderful animals but the wrong breeder/owner can ruin the lives of these animals before they've ever had a chance and paint the breed into an extremely bad light.

Ownership should be limited to people who take a course about the breed and truly understand the environment necessary to keep them as poor care can bring out their natural dominant trait.

Continuous obedience training and a controlled loving environment are must haves and no way should a puppy, regardless of breed, be given free reign of a house while a baby slept in a car seat on the floor. That was just a recipe for disaster as a baby in no way would be viewed as the Alpha of the family.

I prayed that this was just an unfortunate situation and that the child was ripped unnecessarily from her parents. But, given the length of time it took for this to occur and the lack of details, I'm suspecting that the police believe drugs may be involved. And if that is the case my heart breaks for the cruel start this child has been given. I am praying that it was just due to them not correctly analyzing the dangers they placed the baby in. (I mean who would think a puppy would do this!)

We give an IQ test for school. We take a written test for driving. We must register to vote. We must fill out a background check for certain jobs. And yet the most important job of all, parenthood, can be completed by any idiot capable of procreation. Seems unfair. :confused:
 
Thanks, SewingDeb.

I'm thinking drugs or alcohol are involved like some others here think.
 

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