Dogs attack and kill 3 week old baby

Phyllis - posted on 06/14/2010

I neither like, nor trust, ANY dog. That being said, I cannot entirely blame a dog for following its instinct, even when it leads to something horrible. As an adult and a parent you are responsible for your child's safety. In this case the mother is 17 years old, and even a mature 17 year old is prone to crappy judgement due to lack of life experience. I think they are being terribly harsh here. I have to wonder why the grandmother did not step in. But again, to err is human... It is sad how many tragedies happen when someone turns their back for "just a moment". Prayers go out to these families.

Charlotte - posted on 06/14/2010

Im a teen mum, im 18 and i have a dog. He is a right softy and i dont beleive he'd hurt a fly! But there is stil not a chance i would leave him alone with my son for 1 miniute because you just dont know what could happen!!

Sherri - posted on 06/11/2010

Not friends dogs as in plural to a large amt of strange dogs as in multiple friends that have a dog. Our dogs aren't together all at the same time.

Actually I was watching all the kids except the babies when I got Jake he was only 5 mo's old and he is a boxer when of the most easy going dogs he has grown up with these kids for the last year. If I didn't trust him for any reason I would not have gotten him. I got him as a rescue and his breed is so perfect for a home with kids. All the parents love him to death. Now they were already here and established. The new babies met mom through a friend she came to check out me and house. Jake was running around again she had no problems with him around her babies either. He was curious smelled them, tail wagged and he wanted to be petted.

I do not take the kids safety over the dog. However, this is his world. I 100% trust him with my life. He has NEVER growled at anyone, nipped or even been agitated with anyone. I take him most every place with me. He has never had a problem with any other dog either. We take him to all my sons baseball games, dog parks anywhere is able to go. He is calm doesn't jump, well his tail may take you out but other than that he is great. So the parents nor I are taking there child's safety lightly. Not every dog will bite. Actually very few do it is those few that give EVERY dog a bad name.

Sarah - posted on 06/11/2010

My husband and I have a 3 year old Shetland Sheepdog & he is such a sweetheart. We never imagined that we'd have any problems with our dog adjusting to our newborn baby. Unfortunately, our Sheltie starting showing some jealousy towards the new baby. Our dog starting acting all "pissed off" and stuff. He seemed to get in these moods where he didn't want to be messed with and would even growl at us if we did. My husband and I have discussed what we should do about our Sheltie's aggressiveness & we are working with him to see what can be done about it. Our son is almost 9 months old now & I NEVER EVER leave our dog alone with him. Anything can happen in a split second and I would never be able to forgive myself.

Rebecca - posted on 06/11/2010

No one is saying to get rid of dogs by any means. Trust me i love dogs and if i could have one i would, but they would be separated from my children is i wasn't there. I would never separate them all day until my children went to sleep or anything, that would cause major problems and i would want them to be socialized and part of the family, but when you leave the room a dog should either come with you or the child, or the child should be placed in another room away from the dog until you return. It literally took 1 minute with my neighbor and i've never heard a scream so loud from her house and that frantic phone call will be in my head forever! Dogs can build trust yes, but some breeds are meant to be working dogs and should get what they need. Lots of exercise and some need weight bags to feel like they are fulfilling what they should be.
I think SOME people take the dogs for granted and put too much trust in them and it ends like this sometimes. I guess i just don't understand why some are so "eager" to risk it...

Erin - posted on 06/11/2010

I understand that, but I still trust my dogs. I couldn't picture getting rid of them just because I had a child.

Rebecca - posted on 06/11/2010

ANY DOG can attack. Just go to yahoo or google and type in dog kills...see how many you get and all the different types of dogs. It's not just one or two breeds.

Rebecca - posted on 06/11/2010

Another story...i just posted it up top as well

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/10052...

Amber - posted on 06/11/2010

So sad:(

Erin - posted on 06/11/2010

I agree that some dogs can snap. I personally have two dogs, one husky and one black lab. My son is 13 months old and my husky is the best with him. I have had her for 3 years and she was around my niece when she was a baby. I would trust her with my son anytime. I know she would never hurt him. I would trust her with ANY kids. If you don't know the dog well then don't leave the baby alone. But you can't watch your child 24/7, im sorry it can't happen. I have other things to do during the day. I can't watch him all the time and he isn't dead or hurt. You can't judge every dog by what one dog does.

Rebecca - posted on 06/11/2010

Yes the dogs lived in the same house. So SHE knew the dogs, the baby was NEW the dogs had NO TIME to get used to a new member of the house. Yes she has the right to leave the room, we all do, but i guess i'm just a very paranoid mother because i'm VERY cautious. We had 2 dogs when our first was born and a cat. My dogs were 9yrs, a husky lab, and 1 years a shiatsu poodle mix. Great dogs yes. But i NEVER left my son alone with them. Didn't even cross my mind! If i had to go outside and leave my son in, to get the mail or to take out trash, the dogs followed me to the door or cam out with me. ANYTHING can happen in a blink of an eye. We had to get rid of our older dog because our son was allergic and our younger dog died of liver failure and now that i have 2 kids i can tell you they still wouldn't have been left alone with my kids just because the never "attacked" my first child.
I can not believe either that you leave a bunch of kids with a bunch of different peoples dogs, in the same room! Just WOW, that shocks me. Do you not know that a dog is territorial and even if the home isn't there's they can still feel attacked and start fighting, what would you do if a child was in the middle...which could be the case here for this poor baby.
Like i said earlier, my neighbor had a GREAT dog, since their first child was born so he was raised with the kids and you know what, in that split second that the mother wasn't in the room her daughter got bitten on the mouth and now has a scar. They got rid of the dog but she still feels guilt about it. And in a since she should but like some of you, you think, no it's never happened before. BUT THAT'S THE POINT!!! Why take the risk! Why think, no that's not my dog, my dog is a good dog. We all like to think that and the fact of the matter is, they aren't all good dogs, obviously!
I pitty any child who has a babysitter who thinks of their dog before their own well being and shame on the parents for not giving a crap about their child's safety. I do childcare and ANY dog is always separated from the kids i watch. The parents also loved my dogs but they saw where i was coming from and loved that i respected them and wanted the best for their kids.

Jenee - posted on 06/11/2010

How horrible. How could she leave the baby alone with the dogs though? My mom had two huskies. We she brought me home she had to get rid of one of them because they had become very territorial and was having problems excepting me into the home. The other dog was excellent and such a sweet heart ( from what I was told ). She was stolen though when my mom went camping with me and my dad.

Roe - posted on 06/11/2010

thank you for posting this . My step-daughter is only 1 month pregnant. She has 2 dogs. I will warn her.

Sherri - posted on 06/11/2010

She lived with these dogs they weren't strange dogs she obviously didn't leave her infant to purposely get mauled. For crying out loud she left the room for a matter of a couple of minutes for her time that is very much allowed. I would leave my kids in a room with all my friends dogs without a thought. I have done it many times in the past with no ill results. I might think twice now but never before and my children are 13, 11 and 4.

Aura - posted on 06/11/2010

To add, perhaps she didn't sign up for any websites either.

Aura - posted on 06/11/2010

You know what's funny? I did ALL those things and I NEVER received any information on keeping dogs, or cats for that matter, away from the baby. The only way I got information on cats was by asking my doctor, because I have two, and he told me the only problem was litter. Off subject, my point is that I had to ASK to get that sort of information, this is the first time I've heard of anything like this. I was cautious with my child around dogs, though, because they weren't my dogs (I don't own any but I have.)

My mother left my infant sister alone with our dog at the time once. We got him from the pound, a failed police dog, with a notice that the wife of the officer put the dog up for adoption because she was afraid for her children. On accident, she went downstairs to the basement to give her boyfriend some painting tools when she heard my sister screaming. She automatically remembered the dog then and panicked. She ran up the stairs to find my sister in the corner, the dog's back to her (he had her pinned with his butt), and smacking him upside the head repeatedly. "Let go!" she was screaming.

It could happen to anyone. My mother was 30 and thank God nothing bad happened. Yes, the baby is DEAD. No, it will not come back. But if you are going to sit here and tell me that it was because she was 17 that this happened, you clearly think too highly of older moms.

Sharon - posted on 06/11/2010

Aura - her baby is DEAD. As in not coming back, as in going to the worm farm, as in DEAD. Because of something SHE DID.

She is an irresponsible little tart!

The minute a woman signs into a clinic for a pregnancy test, fills out various forms at the hospital, logs on to an "expecting in" website, baby website, etc, she gets bombarded with free "baby" magazines.

In those magazines dogs are mentioned FREQUENTLY. meaning the dangers of a dog around a helpless baby.

I have EIGHT dogs. I completely & totally trust them. I've seen two dogs individually attack someone they thought was hurting or attempting to hurt one of my kids.

I've also seen them react to the "screaming rabbit" thing. I can't say it was an eye opener. I've seen that in other dogs. Even before that, because I'm no Cesar Milan or a pet psychic, I would NEVER leave a baby or toddler alone with a dog, never mind a pair of very large stranger dogs.

Sherri - posted on 06/11/2010

Well all the parents know I have him nobody has a problem with him. He greets all the kids each and every morning and escorts them out each and every afternoon. One mom kisses him everyday, another dad plays with him every afternoon and brings his dog for play dates. So each to there own I guess. If you don't trust my dog please don't send your kids because I am not punishing my dog, he lives here you don't. Plus Jake doesn't have a cage and he only goes outside to go to the bathroom or when we are out there. So when kids go out to play Jake goes with them. If we are in the house so is he, so even if you wanted him put away there is no where for him to go.

Tracy - posted on 06/11/2010

Sherri, I'm a big dog person, I grew up with dogs. That said, when my son was small he was taken care of by a very sweet lady. She had a little dog, who was very gentle and good with kids. BUT, she kept him in his cage away from the kids most of the time. If she didn't, I know I would have pulled my son out. I trusted my dog, who thought my babies were hers, and I still didn't leave her alone with them as infants. I sure as heck don't trust anyone else's dog to love my kids the way she does.

Sherri - posted on 06/11/2010

Okay because we have a family dog I am not supposed to have a life or be forced to keep him outside the rest of his life? No not going to happen he is as much a part of our family as our kids. He sleeps in our bed he is my little guys very best friend. I trust him 100% with my children or any of the 5 kids I watch. I loves them all.

Rebecca - posted on 06/11/2010

Sherri you even say in your post that people never see it coming that's why it's called an accident but you know what, if people were more responsible there wouldn't be these types of accidents. I Think it's irresponsible of you for also endangering other peoples kids 3 days a week 10 hours a day. Yes you trust your dog but my God it takes a split second and then what are you going to tell the parents, well he never did it before...so it must be the child's fault...um no! It's your fault for leaving them unsupervised.
Yes it's a shame that this girl is charged on such a high sentence, i don't think it should be manslaughter by any means but yes negligence causing death. It says in the initial report that she heard a noise and went back in so i don't think the baby fell off anything and yes the stories are conflicting because at first it was the baby was on the floor in the car seat strapped in and then it was like a little swing that sits on the floor and the child was strapped in and then it went to car seat on a chair so hopefully it can all come to light.

Esther - posted on 06/11/2010

So sad to read that shocking news.People should be able to trust thier pets

Aura - posted on 06/11/2010

"The mother is a stupid child who should never have had a child to begin with.

She deserves to be charged with murder for being so stupid and in my opinion she ought to be forcibly sterilised until she reaches 25 and attains an education SOMETHING, other than fornication and smoking."

How could you say something like this!? That is ridiculously naive and judgmental on your part. Just because she was 17, it doesn't mean she is an irresponsible little tart! It does say she is living with the father in their own home AND the grandmother was there. If it was such a huge deal and this poor WOMAN should be crucified for this mistake, then HER mother should have said something, too. If the woman is charged with manslaughter, technically the baby's grandmother should be charged as an accomplice of some sort.

I HATE IT when people make harsh comments like this! She made a mistake that is easy enough for anyone to make, like a baby falling off of something when you turn your back for one second. And don't try to tell me it's never happened to you! We simply can not watch our children 24 hrs a day when laundry and cooking and cleaning needs to be done. Just because she went out for a smoke does not change this fact. The baby was clearly asleep, making her think it was okay to skip out for a minute, she probably didn't give the dogs a second thought because they had always been gentle.

I would agree that dogs will be dogs. When I was younger, my cousins had a wonderfully gentle German Shepard. I was trying to pet him while he was eating and he bit right through my hand. I never blamed him, even as a child, because it was my fault. Sometimes a dog can just snap.

Sharon - posted on 06/11/2010

They claim the dogs attacked and killed the baby. I'm not convinced of that. In the story I read they said the baby was strapped into a carseat and on a chair. Were the dogs investigating the new smell and the baby fell off, started screaming and like instinct tells them to attack? Like a screaming rabbit here draws coyotes. We'll never know.



The mother is a stupid child who should never have had a child to begin with.



She deserves to be charged with murder for being so stupid and in my opinion she ought to be forcibly sterilised until she reaches 25 and attains an education SOMETHING, other than fornication and smoking.



The father in this newstory says the baby was in a rocking chair, but previous news stories say she was in a carseat on another seat.

Lyndsay - posted on 06/11/2010

That's so sad. Poor baby. I really don't think the mother should be charged with manslaughter though... maybe negligence and failure to provide proper supervision, but not manslaughter. Shes a teen parent who just lost her baby, she is probably being crucified in her community for that fact alone... I think its cruel to charge her with manslaughter.

Sherri - posted on 06/11/2010

I have left all my animals with my newborns and have 100% trust in them or I wouldn't have them. Not every animal gets jealous I leave my 1 1/2 yr old boxer with the babies all the time he has never once had a problem with them and they aren't even my children but are here 10 hrs a day 3 days a week. She couldn't have seen this coming. Nobody ever does. That is why it is an accident. I dropped my son when he was 13mo's old he fractured his skull should I be charged for an accident? You can not foresee every possible thing that will ever happen and can't be punished for things that are out of your control. What if it happened when she was sitting right there should she be charged then?

Amanda - posted on 06/11/2010

Were you charged with anything Sue?

Sue - posted on 06/11/2010

So sad, yes OMG!! The mother should at least be charged with child endangerment! How stupid can you be?! Dogs get jealous of newborns or any new being coming into their home. It's all new and they see the child getting all the attention instead of them. I'm sorry, but the dog should be put down. It should've been done right then. It did it now, it may do it again in the future. This dog CANNOT be trusted 100% anymore. What good is it going to do to quaranteen it to see if it has rabies, the damage is done!



I had a half lab half pitbull years ago, that was an awesome dog with my kids. One day a little girl rode her bike by our place (on the road) and he ran out in the road and was biting at her leg. He bit her leg pretty good in a couple places. She ran to our house for help, the dog nipping at her the whole time. We shot the dog about 10 minutes later. He could no longer be trusted.



I am dog lover (I have 3), but there is a limit to the trust.

Manisha - posted on 06/11/2010

thnx yaar 4 this news!!!!!!!!!!

Sherri - posted on 06/11/2010

I agree Amanda. She didn't do anything wrong in my opinion she had no possible way of knowing the devastating tragedy that would occur in 2 mins time. I let my children for a minute here and there. I had 2 other children and needed to get drinks, dinner, laundry, baths etc. I left them sleeping in there swings a lot. So if my cat jumped and knocked it over it would be my fault come on this is so absurd. I would like to dope slap whoever charged this poor girl.

Amanda - posted on 06/11/2010

That poor, poor girl. I can't believe they're charging her with manslaughter, it's so cruel.

This is why so many mothers are so paranoid, the message we're being sent is that we mustn't take our eyes of our kids for a second, and if we do then anything that happens to them is our fault. Whatever happened to accidents?

Katy - posted on 06/11/2010

I meant that in both ways to be honest with u rebecca!

Rebecca - posted on 06/10/2010

I think you meant to say a parent should never leave a child alone with a dog...you just said alone.

Katy - posted on 06/10/2010

Sherri to be honest with u I take my child everywhere I go just about because where she's almost 3 months old and very active that I don't want nothing happen to her. Yes I am a very over protective parent but it's my job! When she's sleeping I have a monitor to listen to her when i'm sleeping as well!

Sherri - posted on 06/10/2010

Katy you never leave your child in the other room while you make dinner or never leave them sleeping in there own bed so you can get some things done. It isn't possible to not leave them for a few minutes never. To smoke a cigarette only takes approx 3 mins to fold a load of laundry takes longer to do.

Katy - posted on 06/10/2010

that's so sad r.i.p baby! :( u should never leave a child alone anyways so that's the parents own fault for that!

Shannon - posted on 06/10/2010

OMGosh... That is so sad.. :-(

Nicole - posted on 06/10/2010

Shocking!!

Tisha - posted on 06/09/2010

LOL! Rebecca!

Rebecca - posted on 06/09/2010

There Tisha, changed the title of the post. I thought i could only edit the message not the actual title. Learned something new today :) LOL

Rebecca - posted on 06/09/2010

The dogs can not by law be put down until 10 day quarantine for rabies screening. If they don't have rabies they can be released to some place they would be fit. Most likely they will be put down but according to reports the dogs were taken by the SPCA and under watch.

Rebecca - posted on 06/09/2010

Yes but when this was posted that was what the title of the actual news was. They updated it and it's now "attacked".

Tisha - posted on 06/09/2010

First off....the title of this post is ridiculous! The dogs didn't eat the baby they mauled it. there is a difference. second. the mother shouldn't be charged with her baby's death. she didn't kill the baby. maybe negligence but not manslaughter. people leave their pets alone with their children all the time! i myslef was mauled by an Akita when I was 13. the people who owned the dog weren't charged with any criminal charges. they didn't even put the dog down. has anyone seen any reports that say if the dogs were killed?

Morgan - posted on 06/09/2010

I agree that the girl should not be charged what a tragic accident.
I also have a golden retriver I trust him with my life, but I never leave him alone with baby, anything can happen and happen fast.

Bobbie Jo - posted on 06/09/2010

That is horrible, and scary cause I have a husky. That poor poor baby

Donna - posted on 06/09/2010

how horrible! I as a parent never trust another families dog, we aren't part of their pack- and so we have to be careful with the safety of our children around them. I have raised and been around tons of dogs my dad was breeding and training dogs for hunting, so I have a learned intuition for dog behavior. The post above mentioning don't stigmatize the entire dog species is correct, but also as a parent you just have to mistrust all animals that don't have a proven record around your children. FYI, I would never let any dog have access to an infant- they aren't considered equals because they aren't excreting hormones yet- thus always the potential for dogs to react unfavorable towards them. May God Bless the soul of the little child.

Jennifer - posted on 06/09/2010

My prayers go out to friends and family of that child...It is a sad day when u lose a child....

Rebecca - posted on 06/09/2010

I feel the same. And IF charges should be laid it should be at a later time and not so harsh. they are trying to make an example of her and i feel bad for them. Loosing your baby on Monday and being charged with MANSLAUGHTER on Tuesday. It's sick. I know she didn't want her child to get attacked and it's horrid but the charges are insane. Hopefully it will be acquitted and a more reasonable charge will be laid. It was her fault the child was unattended but it was not her fault the dog attacked even though the child should have not been left alone so it's a tricky case for sure. I am keeping my eye on this for sure.

Rebecca - posted on 06/09/2010

i dont trust any dogs near my daughter regardless of how 'trustworthy' the seem as yes they do snap have heard or if many times and even know of it happeining to someone i know its the same with cats my cousins cat was fine till their 3rd child and it just turned aggressive and attacked her when she was onoy little so they had to get rid of it

Sherri - posted on 06/09/2010

That poor girl should not charged!!