Pit bull mauls newborn to death in Detroit

DETROIT A three-week-old girl was mauled to death by a pit bull as she sat in her car seat.

Sgt. Eren Stephens told CBS Detroit that a 24-year-old mother placed her infant, still strapped in her car seat, on the floor of her home on Thursday afternoon. She walked away, not knowing the dog was loose in the house.

When she returned, she saw the pit bull attacking the baby.

The girl was rushed to Sinai-Grace Hospital, but died from her injuries.

Neighbors said the incident was saddening and were surprised to hear about it.

"This is ridiculous and you see it on the news every day about these dogs, okay, you see it every day. You see it's about kids, okay, protect your kids. If you love them, you had them, you have to protect them," one neighbor told WWJ.

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Stephens told the Detroit Free Press that the case was now under the jurisdiction of the homicide division. Prosecutors will then decide to file charges after the evidence is submitted.

"It seems like maybe just a tragic accident," Stephens said.

[pitbullsforever]

IF IT WASN'T FOR THE MEDIA THE AMERICAN PITBULL TERRIER WOULD JUST BE ANOTHER DOG. YOU GUYS DONT KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT PITBULLS. SO STOP SAYING CRAP ABOUT THEM CUZ YOU KNOW NOTHING. WHO EVER SAID THAT THING ABOUT KILLING A PITBULL LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ject1]

There is always more to a dog bite story than the initial report. Something doesn't sound right about this whole story. Sad all around but not a reflection of the millions of dogs and their responsible owners. The media picks and chooses what dog attacks it reports and how it reports it. Hopefully they will find out the truth. Sorry it happened but there are at least 72 to 79 million estimated dogs in this country and a retriever/lab mix and a Husky each killed an infant this year and many dogs have done so in the past but it is extremely rare to be killed by a dog. Just a sad reminder to all dog owners to do whatever it takes to learn about dogs and what they need to be a safe dog.

[pibbles33]

all of the ignorance is ***almost*** laughable. american trash?? pitbull owners? that would be me, and lets see....on my way to a doctorate and harvard educated -- if that's your definition of trash....we as a society need more. what makes me so unbelievably mad is that the ignorance and straight up stupidity is what seems to be the "general consensus" and that scares me to death. CBS news--way to perpetuate the media machine that loves to call out every dog under the sun a "pit bull" and i think the point is that we should mourn a life lost---- a horribly sad event. oh, and responding to some previous post, there is a documented case of a pomeranian dog (weight all of 10lbs) that killed an adult human male--

[tom_gwynn]

Sigh. Another child lost to a pit bull. Followed by the usual protests of "it's the owners, not the dog". While I do think that pit bull attacks probably get wider press than that of other breeds, the fact is that you *can* breed dogs for certain behaviors. This dog was probably a sweet and loving family dog, I've met many pits that are; but the instincts are still there. No matter how much you train one, a Border Collie will instinctively want to herd things. A Husky likes to pull things. Labs like to retrieve things. Newfoundlands like to pull people out of the water. And pit bulls are attack dogs. When something behaves in a way that meets their definition of prey, they attack. That's what they were bred to do and they do it very well. It might be a cat, a chicken, another dog or yes, even a child. So stop pretending that the breed isn't part of it; it very much is.

[gbreadmann]

From what I've seen it's the males that are more aggressive. A shame these stories don't mention if it's a male or female pit.

[micmac666]

Pet ownership is unnecessary and, in some cases, dangerous.

[Ktillman]

Any dog can be violent, people. It is in their upbringing. I have met many a vicious chihuahua. Nasty lil critters. I had a pit bull/rottweiler. BEST DOG EVER. He NEVER offered to bite a single soul, not even another dog or animal. I understand people dont like pits, but there are good ones. There are bad breeds all over the place. This one, yes, did seem to be dangerous. Like I said, there are many breeds with bad dispositions.

[Goatous]

Ah yes I remember the countless articles about the Chihuahua that mauled a child/neighbor/owner to death. Happens virtually every day. Not like these fun loving Pit Bulls, virtually unheard of for them to attack and kill anybody.
The silly argument that I got nipped by such and such bred is equivalent to a Pit Bull that will not stop until you are dead.
The human trash that keeps these things should get the same treatment their victims get.

[SoCal_Gridlock]

Several years ago when I was working as a land and construction surveyor our company was doing work on a project that was not very popular with the local residents. One day a guy was walking his pit bull past one of our survey crews and then deliberately let the dog off its leash, at which point the pit bull ran like a bat out of hell directly towards our crew in a very threatening manner. One of our crew members happened to have a small shovel in his hand and as the dog attacked he knocked the dog unconscious with the shovel. At that point another crew member impaled the animal in its upper body with a sharp, pointed piece of survey equipment, killing the pit bull instantly.

The dog's owner of course called the police and threatened to sue us, the construction company, the developer and anybody else he could think of but in the end nothing came of it and the project was completed.

[Goatous]

At what point are we going to start sending these Pit Bull owners to jail? How many people need to get mauled or worse by these things before we all say enough? I seriously don't get it. The people that make excuse after excuse saying it isn't the bred are are so full of crap it make me sick.

[lesserof2evil]

It's not the dog, it's the owner, fool.

[Henri_Rochard]

I'm CERTAIN that this pit bull, just like all the other kind and gently pit bulls that their owners constantly praise, is just a victim of circumstance. The poor widdle pit bull shouldn't be put down; it probably just was having an off-day.