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California, Fresno, 3 day old baby killed by family dogs

10K views 66 replies 21 participants last post by  WillCorw 
#1 ·
California newborn killed by family dogs | cleveland.com

We think it was an accident.

Who would mix shar peis with pit bulls?

Who would leave a 3 day old baby on a couch with the door wide open and dogs you know are aggressive out there, tied up?

33 year old woman with no brains at all. 3 day old baby no chance at all.

I know, I know, I know.

Maybe she was living with her brother, and her brother wasn't living with her. Maybe she needed a place to stay, and he had dogs. You don't give up your dogs because your sister moves in with her baby. Maybe. So often when people want to rehome a dog that will bite children, this is what I envision, the fact that people cannot be with an infant/small child every moment of every day to prevent a tragedy like this one. Sooner or later with a dog that will bite, there is going to be something happen.

:frown2:

Glad it wasn't a shepherd, but this kind of thing hurts all dog owners everywhere.
 
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#6 ·
I read this earlier and someone posted they were Sharpei and Lab, but I don't know how they said that when I have't seen a picture of the dogs anywhere. I stopped reading the story when it read "thought the dogs were tied up". My first thought was why were dogs tied up in a yard with a fence unless there was an issue? Where do these people get these dogs? Do they just get a dog and leave it outside without any interaction? I don't understand how you bring a baby home to this kind of scenario? These people get dogs and have no clue what to do with them, now an innocent baby is dead. These people should be charged with being stupid.
 
#9 ·
It wasn't in the article that I seen it, it was comments that someone made that knew the dogs. I can't say one way or the other, but the media tends to go with pit bull for anything like this, it gets way more attention then if it was a poodle. Here, everything is a pit bull mix even if it isn't, they don't have problems adopting out dogs because they are pit bulls, there are just to many of them. No matter what breed it was, my guess is that this would have happened no matter what because these people had no clue about dogs period.
 
#12 ·
I did a search and there is a very and I mean very short video clip of both dogs. The first dog has pointy ears and at first glance which was really fast I thought a Belgian Mal mix, but then it was on the shorter heavier side.


If really doesn't matter because a baby and two dogs are dead over stupidity.
 
#15 ·
Any dog might kill a 3 day old baby, given the opportunity. But there is enough hysteria and enough stories about pit bulls and attacks/deaths that people who have 3 day old babies should ensure that the baby is out of Harm's way.

Shepherds are great mother dogs. They will mother anything (even baby mice, ew!). When, as a dam, their puppies make noises, they are right there figuring out if it is hungry or needs to be relieved -- the bitches have to stimulate this to make it function when they are new. They are careful and protective, and will move their babies if they are anxious about the where they are situated. Other bitches will hear the cries of another bitch's pups and want to do something about it.

When a young couple had a new baby, the shepherd bitch heard the baby crying and went and took the baby to the couple. Total accident, understanding how bitches are, but human babies are not made to be hauled around by dogs. It did not survive the encounter.

If you have a Pomeranian, maybe you can plead ignorance when the dog kills the newborn that was left lying on the bed. (Happened.) If you have a pit bull you can't plead ignorance. I am sorry, but charges need to be filed in this case. I hate adding to the parent's pain, but this sort of negligence is criminal. That poor baby.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Pitbulls are just the latest breed to be top of the list. Google the stats. You'll find that German Shepherds were the top in the 70s. Then Dobes. Then Rotts.

It would be great if we could keep the bully breed hating threads off this board.
This is baloney Michelle, and you know it. In the 20 years ending in 2001, pit bulls were on the top of fatalities. They still are.

Maybe in ancient history, the 1970s when everything with pointy ears was a GSD, and no one heard about pit bulls, GSDs were it. But they have never topped the rating in killings for decades. What is it, 4 decades, 5? I am sick and tired of taking the fall for pit bulls. Their owners shouldn't get a free pass anymore. If you want a pit bull, fine. If it kills someone, go to prison.

And, this is a current dog event. It is allowed here to have a thread about a baby being killed by dogs because it effects all of us when something like this happens. It isn't a pit bull hating thread, it is a dog killing baby thread, and I think that the baby is more important than being politically correct when it comes to pit bulls.
 
#19 ·
German Shepherds and Dobes never earned that reputation. Rotts did to a degree, but a far distant second to Pits.

It is hard not to engage when one can't walk their dog around the block without a Pit Bull problem. I have a friend in Erie. He says the Pit Bull problem is extremely bad up that way.

Dog German shepherd dog Canidae Mammal Dog breed
 
#20 ·
I would never leave my newborn baby out with the dogs. It's all so new, maybe the dog goes to eat the poop in the baby's diaper and hurts the baby. Nothing would be more important to me than the baby, and to lose the dogs and baby at once, wow, why in the world risk a thing?

After the baby is a bit older, sure. Watch the dogs, see how they are reacting, and move forward with caution for all.

How in the world would you not make protecting your child and the dogs you love a priority and not take risks?

These deaths are so easy to prevent. I think people forget that dogs are predators and there is this myth that dogs somehow instinctively would never hurt a baby. Well, dogs are dogs and they might, even accidentally.

People need to be smart about their tiny newborns and their dogs. I see no reason why my dogs wouldn't be fine with a baby, but why why why risk a thing?

Maybe it's due to a general lack of understanding of dogs as predator. The photos and videos of dogs sitting with tiny babies or being sat on by toddlers are all over the place. This idea that a dog should tolerate anything a child dishes out is wrong and dangerous and unfair to the dog.

I expect and have seen tolerance from my dogs for kids antics. But, take it too far and you have a dead dog and a hurt kid. People need to get smarter about animal behavior. Know your breed, too. My dogs might be very cool with kids, but if the kids starts running, and screaming, and I'm not there, maybe they'd chase and nip at their pants. I just won't take any risks.

I think we (society we) are very confused by cartoons, bad "positive only" training, and the myth of dogs as furry babysitters. I have a good friend who allows their 2 year old to sit on the dog. The dog looked OK with it, but I made a mental note not to allow that kid to play with my dogs. My dogs are fine with kids, are gentle and play fetch, but it would be unfair to expect them to tolerate an unknown toddler playing bronco on their ribcage. Again, why risk it? There is little benefit and huge risk.
 
#21 ·
I would never leave my newborn baby out with the dogs. It's all so new, maybe the dog goes to eat the poop in the baby's diaper and hurts the baby. Nothing would be more important to me than the baby, and to lose the dogs and baby at once, wow, why in the world risk a thing?

After the baby is a bit older, sure. Watch the dogs, see how they are reacting, and move forward with caution for all.

How in the world would you not make protecting your child and the dogs you love a priority and not take risks?

These deaths are so easy to prevent. I think people forget that dogs are predators and there is this myth that dogs somehow instinctively would never hurt a baby. Well, dogs are dogs and they might, even accidentally.

People need to be smart about their tiny newborns and their dogs. I see no reason why my dogs wouldn't be fine with a baby, but why why why risk a thing?

Maybe it's due to a general lack of understanding of dogs as predator. The photos and videos of dogs sitting with tiny babies or being sat on by toddlers are all over the place. This idea that a dog should tolerate anything a child dishes out is wrong and dangerous and unfair to the dog.

I expect and have seen tolerance from my dogs for kids antics. But, take it too far and you have a dead dog and a hurt kid. People need to get smarter about animal behavior. Know your breed, too. My dogs might be very cool with kids, but if the kids starts running, and screaming, and I'm not there, maybe they'd chase and nip at their pants. I just won't take any risks.

I think we (society we) are very confused by cartoons, bad "positive only" training, and the myth of dogs as furry babysitters. I have a good friend who allows their 2 year old to sit on the dog. The dog looked OK with it, but I made a mental note not to allow that kid to play with my dogs. My dogs are fine with kids, are gentle and play fetch, but it would be unfair to expect them to tolerate an unknown toddler playing bronco on their ribcage. Again, why risk it? There is little benefit and huge risk.
I think she did not feel she was leaving the baby out with dogs. I think the dogs were tied outside, and they had the doors open, it was hot, and she lay the baby down, and the dogs were either not tied or broke their chains, both of them, and we have a tragedy.

It is impossible to have a baby that never, ever is left with the dog for even a moment. But at 3 days, yeah, no one should deliberately set that up. Keeping aggressive dogs when you have a baby, keeping dogs that will bite kids, it is such a risk. She knew the dogs were aggressive, but she thought they were outside. Poor baby. I don't know why so many people like these dogs, even if they are known to be aggressive. And yes, dogs will often pile on when there is an attack. Keeping an aggressive dog in this case means losing a baby and losing both dogs.
 
#22 ·
I agree, Muskeg - videos of kids climbing all over dogs is rampant on the internet. Not wise at all, in my opinion. Certain breeds were developed for certain purposes. My two Boxers from years ago were running in our fenced pasture one day, and to our shock, they began bull-baiting! One nipped at one of our cows' ankles, and when she put her head down to shoo him away, our other Boxer grabbed her by the nose. This continued until we got the dogs out of the pasture. Boxers were bred for bull-baiting. Pit bulls were bred to fight. Period.And stupid young guys breeding pits for size and ferocity have only made the situation worse.
 
#23 ·
These stories are so sad. When our kids were young, we wanted a dog but I didn't want a dog that could kill our kids (our Shnauzer/Terrier mix would probably lick them to death, but would have a hard time hurting them if it wanted to) in a worst case scenario.


Now that our kids are older (9 year old and 11 year old twins), we wanted a dog that could help protect, or at least scare anyone off if it barked. So, we just got a female GSD from a breeder.


So sad that people are negligent enough to allow this to happen. Some may be innocent (but negligent), some plain stupid and negligent.
 
#31 ·
The two stories posted here, the one in Fresno and the one where the legs are ripped off - both examples of bad parenting. I would not leave a 3 day old baby on the couch, it would be with me or in a safe place for a baby - a crib or bassinet. The other child was left in a swing - I would definitely not leave a baby in swing and then go off to sleep. As much as I dislike govt coming into our life, maybe a parenting class should be offered in schools.
 
#32 ·
I would never leave a baby with a huge dog like that, its very possible the dogs thought the baby was a chew toy, or a small animal. And I try to socialize my dogs with kids at an early age and teach them to be gentle just in case they ever do come in contact with a child.
 
#33 ·
I seen a pic on a GSD Facebook page a week ago of a new born baby leaning on a full grown gsd. The post said whatever name dog loves his new baby sister. I wanted to comment "The baby is not his sister, and I have seen how GSD's play with siblings. Your baby won't survive. Don't forget that a dog is a dog and your kid is a kid." But in a lot of people's eyes they have the perfect dog who can do no wrong. Until it does something wrong. People don't realize that a dog correcting baby or kid usually ends with a final correction involving teeth. And it's usually because the owners don't even realize the dog is giving warning after warning that go ignored.
 
#34 ·
It's been about 37 years since I've seen one, but a bassinette is no match for a formidable dog.

If the lady owned/rented the house, knew the dogs were aggressive, she should have gotten rid of the dogs, or told her brother to go. She knew the dogs were aggressive, or one was. It only takes one -- the other will often follow. I am sorry, I know we love dogs, but, babies are more important, and it isn't going to happen for the kid to be raised for 5-7 years and never be close enough to the dog to incur serious injuries.

If the brother owned/rented the house (his dogs), and that was the best the sister could do, flop in with her newborn on her brother and his pit bulls, maybe she should have put the child up for adoption. If that were the case, than she couldn't support the child.

Living with and infant and an aggressive pit bull, and another pit bull or mixes thereof, is just a disaster waiting to happen.

So bloody sad.
 
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