Coroner's 'nightmare': Dog dismembers 2-month-old child

Aunt Spiker said:

The baby's dead: can't imagine it would be any worse than that.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I wasn't referring to it being worse for the child -- but potentially worse for the breed which has an unfair reputation.

What a horrible thing to have happen. It shouldn't have, just like children shouldn't die in car wrecks or by choking on a piece of hot dog (totally did that myself in 7th grade) or by drowning in the family pool. It's not fair though to claim that all dogs would do something like this. There are many more families with dogs and young children that have nothing like this happen. I grew up with dogs, Dobermans no less. Not all dogs are Cujo.

X Factor said:

What a horrible thing to have happen. It shouldn't have, just like children shouldn't die in car wrecks or by choking on a piece of hot dog (totally did that myself in 7th grade) or by drowning in the family pool. It's not fair though to claim that all dogs would do something like this. There are many more families with dogs and young children that have nothing like this happen. I grew up with dogs, Dobermans no less. Not all dogs are Cujo.

Click to expand...

That's the thought process that goes into situations just like this: parents don't think anything bad is going to happen - ever - because their dog is somehow more domesticated and would 'never do anything like that'

If you have children + dogs = nothing bad happening - it's likely because those parents are smart and don't just leave their dogs with their sleeping children, etc.

Aunt Spiker said:

That's the thought process that goes into situations just like this: parents don't think anything bad is going to happen - ever - because their dog is somehow more domesticated and would 'never do anything like that'

If you have children + dogs = nothing bad happening - it's likely because those parents are smart and don't just leave their dogs with their sleeping children, etc.

Click to expand...

I totally slept with our dogs growing up. I used to voluteer for an animal shelter and, after meeting some of the families, I sometimes had a greater concern for what the kids might do to the dog than vice versa, granted that may be because I don't have kids. Stories like the OP are thankfully rare, that's why it made news. Sadly children are far more likely to be killed, either accidentally or otherwise, by other humans and stories like that rarely even make the news any more.

X Factor said:

I totally slept with our dogs growing up. I used to voluteer for an animal shelter and, after meeting some of the families, I sometimes had a greater concern for what the kids might do to the dog than vice versa, granted that may be because I don't have kids. Stories like the OP are thankfully rare, that's why it made news. Sadly children are far more likely to be killed, either accidentally or otherwise, by other humans and stories like that rarely even make the news any more.

Click to expand...

Fair enough.

there is a serious problem with unsecured dogs in my town. i have been attacked twice this past year (not bitten seriously, thankfully). today, my dad was almost bitten while working on my fence.

i now carry pepper spray whenever i walk. i'm very close to calling animal services. i don't want my neighbors to dislike me, and i don't want the dogs put down. however, i've had enough. i can't even let my little dog into the yard for fear that some big monster will come rushing in and eat her right off the end of the leash i'm holding.

please, if you have a dog, secure it properly.

Helix said:

there is a serious problem with unsecured dogs in my town. i have been attacked twice this past year (not bitten seriously, thankfully). today, my dad was almost bitten while working on my fence.

i now carry pepper spray whenever i walk. i'm very close to calling animal services. i don't want my neighbors to dislike me, and i don't want the dogs put down. however, i've had enough. i can't even let my little dog into the yard for fear that some big monster will come rushing in and eat her right off the end of the leash i'm holding.

please, if you have a dog, secure it properly.

Click to expand...

99.999% of the time these things are the fault of irresponsible dog owners -- not dogs, who are just being dogs.

This blew my mind: I was walking my dog late at night -- around 1 am -- when out of nowhere a golden retriever came streaking down the middle of the street and straight towards us. Naturally my dog, an American Stafford Terrier (a/k/a Pit) who was on a leash, freaked and reacted defensively. He grabbed the dog by the throat and took him to the ground. I pulled him off and about 30 seconds later the golden's owner comes trotting down the street. He launches into a rant about how irresponsible I was for having "that kind of dog" in a city.... I lost it. "Hold on a minute, mother****er! You're dog is off leash, totally out of control, running down the middle of the street, at least 400 yards from you, and you're calling ME irresponsible for walking my dog on a leash?! You're lucky he ran into my dog and not the grill of an F-250!!" Still pisses me off when I think about it.....

Statistically, more children under the age of 10 die every year from accidents (primarily related to travel) than any other cause. Death by dog doesn't even register. Hell, in any given year 30-35 people die from dog attacks. That's such an insignificant number that this particular incident is a rare and unprecedented tragedy. The mother must be devastated. The father must be wracked with guilt. Then again, this story sounds incredibly odd. The mother discovered the baby, who was still alive when she arrived home. The father heard nothing? Left in a swing? Maybe, just maybe, something else is at play here. But even if it's not, I find it reactionary and a bit illogical to start screaming about families who have dogs around small children/babies.

Sure, you should watch your dog around your child. Sure, you should focus on training and obedience behaviors. Sure, you should separate the infant from the animals when the infant and/or you is/are asleep. But 99.9 times out of 100, nothing happens. Freaking out over a dog in the house is just plain dumb when you load your child into your vehicle to go for a drive without a care in the world. Your child is 1000 times more likely to die in that car than they ever are to be injured or killed by your dog.

AdamT said:

99.999% of the time these things are the fault of irresponsible dog owners -- not dogs, who are just being dogs.

This blew my mind: I was walking my dog late at night -- around 1 am -- when out of nowhere a golden retriever came streaking down the middle of the street and straight towards us. Naturally my dog, an American Stafford Terrier (a/k/a Pit) who was on a leash, freaked and reacted defensively. He grabbed the dog by the throat and took him to the ground. I pulled him off and about 30 seconds later the golden's owner comes trotting down the street. He launches into a rant about how irresponsible I was for having "that kind of dog" in a city.... I lost it. "Hold on a minute, mother****er! You're dog is off leash, totally out of control, running down the middle of the street, at least 400 yards from you, and you're calling ME irresponsible for walking my dog on a leash?! You're lucky he ran into my dog and not the grill of an F-250!!" Still pisses me off when I think about it.....

Click to expand...

Pits need lots of exercise. Walking is not enough. I have 2 and its 2 hours of exercise daily. Running, jumping, pulling, etc

They actually *beg me* for more exercise. They are extremely physical...like a body builder pumping iron