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California: Family Dog Mauls 3-Day-Old Baby To Death In Apparent Accident

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 14:01 PST, Apr 22, 2016

In an unfortunate incident, a 3-day-old baby boy was killed by a family dog on Friday after being startled by the baby’s mother while watching television. According to Reuters, the dog, a family pet, was lying on the bed with the baby and the couple, watching television when the dog was startled by the mother after she coughed. The incident happened in Mira Mesa, a San Diego neighborhood in California, KTLA reports.

The dog, a 97-pound American Staffordshire terrier-Great Dane mix, panicked and in response, bit the three-day-old baby boy lying next to it before the parents could do anything. The parents were able to free the baby boy seconds later but he was already grievously injured. The duo took the baby to a local hospital where doctors attempted emergency procedures to save his life. They were however unsuccessful in saving the baby boy who was pronounced dead a little later. The dog involved in the attack is a neutered male that was named “Polo.”

According to Sergeant Tu Nguyen of the San Diego police child abuse unit, they are treating the incident as an accident.

“The mom coughed unexpectedly and it startled the dog, which bit the baby, causing traumatic injury. The parents were able to separate the dog from the baby and they rushed him to the hospital but they were not able to save him.”

Nguyen added that his unit is called to investigate the death of any child in their jurisdiction and said that the death was a “tragic accident.” He stopped short of describing how badly the baby boy was injured and where the dog had bit the baby. The police are now waiting for a report from the medical examiner that will confirm the exact cause of death. The identities of the family members have not been revealed.

Meanwhile, the dog in question was taken into the custody of the San Diego County Animal Services. The law warrants that any dog that bites a person be placed in quarantine by animal control, confirms Dan DeSousa, deputy director of the agency. He added that the family can direct them to euthanize the dog. The also have the option to take the dog back after the 10-day quarantine is over. He added that as of now, he hasn’t received any instructions that would determine the future of the dog that bit the baby. Meanwhile, a report by FOX 5 says that if animal services does not hear from the family within 10 days, the dog will be euthanized. The dog did not have any previous history of showing aggressiveness towards people. Authorities will also check if the dog has rabies.

Meanwhile, several people have reacted to the incident on social media with mixed reactions. While some were sympathetic to the family others believed that dogs and babies should never be put on one bed.

What makes the incident unusual is the fact that this mix breed is not known for its aggressive behavior – unlike pit bulls and Rottweilers which make a huge proportion of dog bites in the U.S. According to statistics put out by DogsBite.org, 34 U.S. dog bite-related fatalities occurred in 2015. Statistics say that pit bulls contributed to 82 percent (28) of these deaths. The second most dangerous dogs were Rottweilers which in comparison caused three deaths in 2015. These two breeds alone accounted for 91 percent of the total recorded deaths in 2015. The organization adds that over an 11 year period ranging from 2005 to 2015, 76 percent of fatal dog attacks were attributed to pit bulls and Rottweilers.

[Image Via Pixabay]

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