3-day-old baby fatally mauled by family dog, in front of parents

ms madge

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http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/22/dog-mauls-kills-baby/

MIRA MESA — A 3-day-old baby was fatally mauled by a pet dog in front of the child’s parents at their Mira Mesa home Thursday night, San Diego police said Friday.
The parents were in bed, watching TV, with their newborn son and pit bull-mix dog when the mother coughed, startling the dog, child abuse unit Sgt. Tu Nguyen said.
The dog reacted by biting the baby, he said. The parents pulled the animal off and raced the child to a hospital, where he was declared dead.

“At this time it appears to be a tragic accident,” Nguyen said. “It’s such a horrific, tragic case.”
I cannot imagine. I can't let myself imagine what these parents are going through :tears: I hope they have lots of people around them to look after them :tears:
 
Having a pit-bull mix dog and a newborn in the bed is asking for trouble.
 
Having a pit-bull mix dog and a newborn in the bed is asking for trouble.

The second I spotted this thread, I knew what kind of dog it was without even reading. Thats all you really need to know about this story.
 
Horrific :(. Those poor parents :(.
 
Heartbreaking
:rose:


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But pitbulls are misunderstood...:facepalm:
Must be horrible for those parents.
 
But pitbulls are misunderstood...:facepalm:
Must be horrible for those parents.

I agree with your posts about the "pitbull" thing. However, I had a very protective (of me) German Shepherd who MAY have done the same thing. She never did kill any kids, but there were times she scared the 'ell out of them - one wouldn't even go into the house when I wasn't home. But, that doesn't let the pitbulls/mixes off the hook. They ARE more dangerous and deadly than any other breeds. Just look it up if you doubt me.
 
That is SO SAD. The thing about pit bulls, that is often misunderstood, is they aren't protective at all. They never attack to protect themselves or others, they attack the weak who are usually trying to get away from an unwarranted, unprovoked attack. Small children, old people, pregnant women, women who have fallen or have a seizure, tiny babies.

In this case, IMHO, this is a double worry because this dog must have given NO WARNING - look at him. He's a sweet faced dog who slept with the parents of this child. This could have been an adopted sweet faced shelter dog that they take to the dog parks with no incident whatsoever.

BTW, I volunteer at the Austin shelter, and walk pit bulls all the time - pit bulls, and pit mixes make up most of the dogs in the shelter. I have never, ever had a problem with one except that their brut strength can almost pull me off m feet when walking them. If there is a loose dog at the shelter, the alarm LOOSE DOG is called out, and I think nothing at all of running after and physically grabbing a pit bull where I would no be so inclined with a rottie, a german shepherd or even a chihuahua. The stories are weirdly worded about what the dog actually did, and it happened quickly.

Anyway, what a tragic tragic story but I'm not inclined to say "I told you so" to the parents of this dog. The vast majority of pit bulls live their entire lives without biting a human, which is something you can rarely say of a dog.

RIP, sweet baby.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/22/dog-mauls-kills-baby/
 
That is SO SAD. The thing about pit bulls, that is often misunderstood, is they aren't protective at all. They never attack to protect themselves or others, they attack the weak who are usually trying to get away from an unwarranted, unprovoked attack. Small children, old people, pregnant women, women who have fallen or have a seizure, tiny babies.

In this case, IMHO, this is a double worry because this dog must have given NO WARNING - look at him. He's a sweet faced dog who slept with the parents of this child. This could have been an adopted sweet faced shelter dog that they take to the dog parks with no incident whatsoever.

BTW, I volunteer at the Austin shelter, and walk pit bulls all the time - pit bulls, and pit mixes make up most of the dogs in the shelter. I have never, ever had a problem with one except that their brut strength can almost pull me off m feet when walking them. If there is a loose dog at the shelter, the alarm LOOSE DOG is called out, and I think nothing at all of running after and physically grabbing a pit bull where I would no be so inclined with a rottie, a german shepherd or even a chihuahua. The stories are weirdly worded about what the dog actually did, and it happened quickly.

Anyway, what a tragic tragic story but I'm not inclined to say "I told you so" to the parents of this dog. The vast majority of pit bulls live their entire lives without biting a human, which is something you can rarely say of a dog.

RIP, sweet baby.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/22/dog-mauls-kills-baby/

Your first paragraph sums it up perfectly as I know a lot about this breed.
People need to understand how the breed is "wired" & that goes for all dog breeds.

And I agree with what Trident said about German Shepherds too.. They are guardians and will attack but will be fiercely loyal to their owners. That's their "wiring". For household protection, there's nothing like a GSD.

There are other breeds that their "wiring" such as Akita's & Chow Chows wouldn't work for me in my household...no way!

This is my opinion only based on show dog handling in the big rings, breeder's commentaries throughout decades, experience, etc
Please, no need for rebuttals or efforts to "educate" me, dear posters. I know what I know.

That being said, I'd like to think that us humans are better than dogs but I'm not so sure of that.
 
That is SO SAD. The thing about pit bulls, that is often misunderstood, is they aren't protective at all. They never attack to protect themselves or others, they attack the weak who are usually trying to get away from an unwarranted, unprovoked attack. Small children, old people, pregnant women, women who have fallen or have a seizure, tiny babies.

In this case, IMHO, this is a double worry because this dog must have given NO WARNING - look at him. He's a sweet faced dog who slept with the parents of this child. This could have been an adopted sweet faced shelter dog that they take to the dog parks with no incident whatsoever.

BTW, I volunteer at the Austin shelter, and walk pit bulls all the time - pit bulls, and pit mixes make up most of the dogs in the shelter. I have never, ever had a problem with one except that their brut strength can almost pull me off m feet when walking them. If there is a loose dog at the shelter, the alarm LOOSE DOG is called out, and I think nothing at all of running after and physically grabbing a pit bull where I would no be so inclined with a rottie, a german shepherd or even a chihuahua. The stories are weirdly worded about what the dog actually did, and it happened quickly.

Anyway, what a tragic tragic story but I'm not inclined to say "I told you so" to the parents of this dog. The vast majority of pit bulls live their entire lives without biting a human, which is something you can rarely say of a dog.

RIP, sweet baby.

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/22/dog-mauls-kills-baby/

wow, this post told me a lot about pit bulls. When you said they attack the weak, like someone who has fallen, babies, etc., that made perfect sense from what I've read - the elderly owner falls down and the pitbull or 2 attacks and kills them. That always flummoxed me. My bigger dogs, shepherds, dobermans, would never have done that - that would have licked my face. But, thank you for that, it explains a lot of the attacks.

Now, can we get to the bottom of WHY they would attack their beloved owners who have fallen down, or the tiny babies? Is it because of what they were trained to hunt - the terrier side? What is it?

Come one, let's explore this thing from beginning to end. I really am interested. I'm also interested in WHY they lock their jaws. How did that come about?
 
I guess I need to say/ask something else. I had 6 children when I had my German Shepherd. When I brought each and every one home, I introduced the dog to them, holding her collar of course. She licked all of their faces and I PRESUMED she accepted them as mine, a part of me, her owner/leader of the pack. At time, when my twins were young, less than a year, I put them on a bed to change their diapers and the dog was right there - she was part of the family, my love and it was allowed. My twins would poke at her eyes, stick their hands in her mouth - and she would growl, showing her 2"? fangs. But she never snapped or bit. Maybe that was because I was around? Maybe because she had been introduced to them as babies and licked them to taste me and mine? I don't know. Does anyone have any ideas? Thing is, she would never have been on the bed with my babies without me. If I wasn't there, she would have been at my heels because she wanted to be with me.

Guess I'm wondering if she didn't bite them, only warned them, because I was there, or was it because I had introduced them to her when they were newly born? Is there an answer to this?
 
The story doesn't make sense to me. The woman coughed, the dog killed her baby, the dog is held by authorities for 10 days and then the coughing woman can reclaim her dog.

Was the baby on the floor with the dog?
 
The story doesn't make sense to me. The woman coughed, the dog killed her baby, the dog is held by authorities for 10 days and then the coughing woman can reclaim her dog.

Was the baby on the floor with the dog?

I read where the dog will be held for 10 days - rabies, right? What good will rabies or not do right now? Do you have a link where the dog can be RECLAIMED? That part I didn't find.
 
The story doesn't make sense to me. The woman coughed, the dog killed her baby, the dog is held by authorities for 10 days and then the coughing woman can reclaim her dog.

Was the baby on the floor with the dog?

As far as I can tell, all of them (baby, dog, parents) were in bed watching TV.
 
I read where the dog will be held for 10 days - rabies, right? What good will rabies or not do right now? Do you have a link where the dog can be RECLAIMED? That part I didn't find.

Dog can be reclaimed after 10 days from what I read also.

"It is a 2-year-old, neutered male American Staffordshire terrier-mix named Polo, DeSousa said. He said the dog would be held in 10-day quarantine to determine whether it has rabies. After that it will be up to the owner to decide whether to reclaim the dog, he said."


http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...ed-to-death-by-family-dog-20160422-story.html
 
wow, this post told me a lot about pit bulls. When you said they attack the weak, like someone who has fallen, babies, etc., that made perfect sense from what I've read - the elderly owner falls down and the pitbull or 2 attacks and kills them. That always flummoxed me. My bigger dogs, shepherds, dobermans, would never have done that - that would have licked my face. But, thank you for that, it explains a lot of the attacks.

Now, can we get to the bottom of WHY they would attack their beloved owners who have fallen down, or the tiny babies? Is it because of what they were trained to hunt - the terrier side? What is it?

Come one, let's explore this thing from beginning to end. I really am interested. I'm also interested in WHY they lock their jaws. How did that come about?

Reasons dogs attack babies.
"Dogs can become agitated by the sounds and movements of a baby. Dogs have been known to try to move a baby by carrying the baby in their mouths the way a mother dog might do with her puppies. Other dogs have hurt babies because the baby moves and sounds like prey,” according to the nonprofit Doggone Safe, which aims to prevent dog bites through education and victim support."
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...ed-to-death-by-family-dog-20160422-story.html
 
I read where the dog will be held for 10 days - rabies, right? What good will rabies or not do right now? Do you have a link where the dog can be RECLAIMED? That part I didn't find.

It seems to me that if an animal is known to have killedl a child, that animal needs a very special environment for the remainder of its life.

"It is a 2-year-old, neutered male American Staffordshire terrier-mix named Polo, DeSousa said. He said the dog will be held in 10-day quarantine to determine whether it has rabies.

After that it will be up to the owner to decide whether to reclaim the dog, he said."

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/apr/22/dog-mauls-kills-baby/
 
Parents tried to call 911 twice before driving baby to the hospital themselves. This is local to me. Will find link shortly.


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What a tragedy for this family. And another strike against a very misunderstood breed. As an owner of 2 pitbulls, and mother of 3 young children, I can say that judging this breed without any first hand experience with them makes me upset. I do know that all dogs need to worked with when you bring a baby home. They are pack animals and need to know with the addition of a new member, that they get moved down a notch or there may be issues. I am not blaming the family by any means. I have no idea how the baby was introduced. For us, when our baby came home, my dog was not allowed on our bed until she understood that my daughter was above her in pecking order. Our bed was the dog's "territory", and she had to relearn that it was not hers anymore and only then was she "invited" up again. I just think that people think dogs are like humans and should know better. They are not. They have to be taught and we often don't read their cues. I feel horrible for this family but I will not rush to blame pitbulls either.
RIP sweet baby.
 
Phoenix, I understand your input, but my dogs never had to be introduced to my babies - they just got it, crystal clear. I was amazed, really, at how well they "got it". My dogs wouldn't approach the baby quilt when the baby was on it, would quickly back off if they were in danger of getting bonked with a baby toy, they even innately knew that food in the hands of a baby wasn't "fair game" just because they could easily have taken it. I'm a little concerned when i read websites about how to introduce the dogs, as if you're presenting the baby to the dog for approval - when I think it's the opposite. This is the baby, dog, and you are the dog.

Anyway, just reading between the lines on this story it seems this was a sweet loving family and the unthinkable occurred.
 

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