A one-year-old baby boy has died in Connecticut after a dog attacked and bit him ‘several times’.
Police were called to home in East Hartford just after 3pm Wednesday for reports that a child had been bitten several times by a dog, which neighbors have described as being a ‘cross breed of Dalmatian and pitbull’.
Emergency responders performed lifesaving measures and took the infant to a local hospital, but the boy died ‘despite the valiant efforts of medical professionals’.
The boy’s death is under investigation, police spokesman Officer Marc Caruso said, adding that two dogs were removed from the home.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and loved ones as they mourn their loss,’ Caruso said. ‘May they find solace and strength during this challenging time.’
A one-year-old baby boy has died in Connecticut after a dog attacked and bit him ‘several times’, police have said
Officers were called to home in East Hartford just after 3pm Wednesday for reports that a had been bitten several times by a dog
Police say the child, who has not been named, was bitten several times Wednesday afternoon at a property on Fuller Avenue.
The owner is understood to have kept two dogs on the property, both of which have been removed from the home and quarantined.
Caruso revealed Thursday morning that a larger mixed-breed dog was the primary aggressor, NBC Connecticut reported.
Catiria Delgado, a neighbor, suggested the owner may have been acting violently towards the dogs.
‘My father had overheard a man that lives there, who apparently is the owner of the dogs, beating on the dogs,’ she told WFSB. ‘My dad told him “stop beating on the dogs” or he’ll call the cops.’
She said she wished she had been there during the attack because she could have ‘potentially saved a life’.
The attack in East Hartford comes just days after a baby was killed and it’s parents injured in New Jersey in an apparent attack by the family dog.
Officers responded to the Woodbridge Township home shortly before 6.30am Saturday and found that the mother and child ‘had sustained serious injuries from the dog’, Middlesex County prosecutors and Woodbridge police confirmed.
The baby was pronounced dead at the scene. The mother and father were taken to a hospital for treatment.
The names of the victims weren’t immediately released, and officials didn’t clarify the current status of the animal.
Authorities described the investigation as ‘active and continuing’ and asked anyone with information to call Woodbridge police and county prosecutors.
Pitbull attacks appear to be on the rise in the US, with the breed being responsible for 51 per cent of fatal dog attacks in the last three years.
America recorded 478 fatal dog bites from 2010 to October last year. According to injury law firm Fuicelli & Lee, 196 of the attacks involved pitbulls and another 49 involved pitbull mixes.
Last month police were called to a home in in Los Angeles after a man, believed to be aged 35, was mauled to death by his 13 pitbulls in his yard. The victim’s body was found face down in one of the enclosures in his backyard
The dogs could be seen running around the yard and fighting as officials tried to restrain them
The victim’s father handed the dogs over to animal control to be impounded and examined
Last month police were called to a home in in Los Angeles after a man, believed to be aged 35, was mauled to death by his 13 pitbulls in his yard.
LAPD officers were called to the home on the 900 block of Thorson Avenue, Compton at 7am on February 16 after a concerned friend went to the house and discovered his body.
Officials believe he was a breeder and had gone into the yard to feed the dogs when a fight broke out between the animals and they turned on him.
Helicopter footage showed his bloodied body lying face down in one of the enclosures in his yard while five adult pitbulls and eight puppies ran around and fought.
The victim’s father signed the dogs over to animal control for ‘impoundment and examination’.
Similarly, a toddler had 12 surgeries after a pitbull ripped off his face while he was playing outside in his front yard.
Jose Rodriguez’ son JJ – short for Jose Joel – was playing with his older sisters just before he was brutally attacked by his neighbor’s pitbulls on February 20, 2022. The dogs were allegedly off their leashes.
The toddler was left in a critical condition after the attack, with his face ripped apart and his skull exposed. His injuries were so severe a priest was called to his bedside.
JJ had to stay in the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital for three-and-a-half months and underwent 12 surgeries – including extensive facial reconstruction.
Jose Rodriguez’ son JJ – short for Jose Joel – was playing outside in his front yard with his older sisters just before he was brutally attacked by a neighbor’s pitbull on February 20, 2022 (pictured: JJ after his facial reconstruction surgeries)
JJ had to stay in the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital for three-and-a-half months and has since had 12 surgeries – including extensive facial reconstruction. His father Jose (pictured with JJ) believes ‘when you own a pitbull, you’re putting everyone around you at risk’
JJ was in surgery for 16 hours – he had a tracheostomy (he is pictured above after the surgery), ‘his face stitched back together’, and a feeding tube inserted. He was placed into an induced coma for four days and stayed in hospital for three months
Rodriguez last year issued a warning to pet owners: ‘When you own a pitbull, you’re putting everyone around you at risk.’
He recalled hearing JJ scream and said when he and the boy’s mother ran into the garden, they saw the three pitbulls maul him.
He added: ‘I started screaming “no” and I just ran towards the dogs. I was fighting with them – trying to physically put myself between them and JJ.
‘I got injured too – but it was like nothing compared to what happened to him. These dogs did not want to stop – it was like a pack mentality. They wanted to kill my son.’
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13197635/Baby-boy-dies-dog-attack-biting-Connecticut.html