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Three-Day-Old Baby Killed By Uncle’s Dogs In Fresno, Dogs To Be Euthanized

By Aaron Homer
Published on: 03:02 PST, Jun 28, 2016

A 3-day-old baby was killed by her uncle’s dogs at a home in Fresno, California, in what police are deeming an unfortunate accident, the Fresno Bee is reporting.

The attack happened at a home in central Fresno at about 12:30 a.m. Monday morning. The two male dogs, both of which are believed to be shar-pei/pit bull mixes and one of which was known to be aggressive, were in the home’s backyard.

Police say the 33-year-old mother, whose name has not been released, left the baby on the couch and walked away “for a few seconds.” Because it was hot, the mother left the door open, believing the dogs were safely tied up.

They were not.

The two dogs entered the home and mauled the 3-day-old newborn. The mother rushed back to the baby when she heard the infant’s screams, according to KFSN (Fresno), but it was too late.

The baby, whose name has not been released, was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she died a short time later.

Fresno Police Sgt. Dan Macias said that at this time, the attack is being treated as an accident, although it’s possible that criminal charges may yet be filed.

“At this point, we believe it was an unfortunate accident.For any child to get injured, it hurts. But a newborn, we know how precious life is and it’s very unfortunate this happened.”

This is not the first time a baby has been killed by dogs in California this year. According to an April 22 NBC San Diego report, a 3-day old baby was mauled to death by a family dog in the Mira Mesa area while the mother, father, baby, and dog, described as a 2-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier (a breed belonging to the pit bull family), were all resting in the parents’ bed, watching TV.

When the mother coughed, the startled dog reacted by attacking the infant. The animal was later euthanized.

Monday’s fatal attack on a child by a pit bull mix once again brings to light the matter of pit bulls and the supposed dangers of the breed. According to DogsBite.org, a group dedicated to educating the public about dangerous dog breeds – pit bulls specifically – says that pit bulls account for a staggering percentage of dog-attack deaths.

“Research from DogsBite.org shows that during the 11-year period from 2005 to 2015, [pit bulls and rottweilers] accounted for 76% of the total recorded fatal human attacks… It is important to point out that fatal dog attacks committed by pit bulls and their mixes more than doubles the attacks inflicted by rottweilers. It is well documented by experts and humane groups that pit bulls pose a substantial danger due to their selective breeding for dogfighting.”

However, the American Veterinary Medical Association cautions against singling out pit bulls.

“Any dog can bite, regardless of its breed, and more often people are bitten by dogs they know. It’s not the dog’s breed that determines risk — it’s the dog’s behavior, general size, number of dogs involved and the vulnerability of the person bitten that determines whether or not a dog or dogs will cause a serious bite injury. Dogs can be aggressive for all sorts of reasons. A dog that has bitten once can bite again, and a dog that has never bitten could still bite.”

The owner of the Fresno dogs who mauled a baby to death, their mother’s 30-year-old brother, surrendered the animals to the Central California Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to be euthanized.

[Image via Alexandr Junek Imaging s.r.o./Shutterstock]

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