A two year old San Bernardino toddler was attacked and killed by a 'pit bull' at his home last night.
According to news reports, the young boy, identified as Nathan Aguirre, was out playing in the yard with his father for awhile and then the father went inside -- leaving the young boy alone with the family's two dogs in the enclosed back yard of the family home.
While both parents were inside, the boy was badly bitten in the head and neck and later died at Loma Linda University Hospital.
I'll post more details when/if they become available. We've seen this type of attack pretty regularly. Toddlers should not be left alone with dogs for any length of time - they just seem to have a way of falling on dogs, stepping on tails, hugging and otherwise hurting dogs which leads to significant bites. It's really unfortunate that the Associated Press report (which is already spreading around the media world) failed to mention that the child was left alone with the dogs unsupervised.
The zip code where the attack occurred, 92407, has a poverty level 50% higher than the state average with 18.6% of the population living below the poverty level, and 7.2% living below 50% of the poverty level.
Somehow the "don't leave your toddler alone with a stranger" mantra has been so much more successful than the "don't leave toddler alone w/dogs" mantra. A dog is not even the same species as your toddler. They do not speak the same language and although dogs (like strangers) are generally safe, something bad *could* happen (like with a stranger).
Posted by: YesBiscuit! | May 28, 2010 at 11:18 AM
A two year old shouldn't be left outside alone PERIOD!
Posted by: MichelleD | May 28, 2010 at 12:20 PM
I agree with Michelle D. Why would anyone leave a 2 year old outside along, dog or no dog? So many horrible things could happen!
Posted by: Michelle | May 28, 2010 at 01:12 PM
Erm...that should be "alone" not "along." Proofreading is not my friend today.
Posted by: Michelle | May 28, 2010 at 01:12 PM
There is NO Acceptable answer why a parent would leave a 2 year old with a dog like this, NO EXCUSE at all
Posted by: Jim Holloway | May 28, 2010 at 01:51 PM
If the MEDIA reported the facts in such cases people might begin to get it. Instead they link Pit Bulls to dead kids.
The media are more of a menace than dogs will ever be.
Posted by: Karen | May 28, 2010 at 02:49 PM
They just got the dog 3 and a half months ago. They are reporting no history of aggression (in the 3 1/2 months they had the dog). A neighbor was quoted as saying he saw the two year old "in the yard all the time playing with the dogs" so this wasn't a one time occurence. Also, food and water bowls in the yard so these were resident dogs and not family pets. Naturally, they are now blaming the disappearance a week ago of the neighbor's outdoor little white fluffy dog on the pit bulls though no sign of the dog has been found in the pit bull yard. The neighbor is quoted "They just changed after they took the dog". Hmmmmm...we have our "monster" myth once again. Forget that coyotes frequent this neighborhood after dark. It must have been the fenced in pit bulls.
They also regurgitated the Fontana attack which was corrected months ago as mastiffs and australian shepherds. But KCAL 9 brought them back up as "five pit bull mastiff mixes". Gotta love idiotic reporting. I'm so tired of this, guys and gals. Just really, really tired.
http://cbs2.com/local/toddler.mauled.killed.2.1720880.html
Posted by: Jennie Bailey | May 28, 2010 at 05:58 PM
I wanted to clarify that most of the quotes I got were out of the video and not the article. Just so you didn't think I was accusing the media of making things up while making stuff up on MY own.
Posted by: Jennie Bailey | May 28, 2010 at 06:12 PM
Yawn! Isn't it time to demonize another breed yet?
Posted by: Penelope Low | October 08, 2013 at 08:11 PM