Child dies in dog attack in Jacksonville, FL

They're almost always preventable -- but this one has just about every preventable warning sign in the book.

Over the weekend, 17 month old Dylan Andres wandered away from his home as his mother was unpacking groceries from the car.  Dylan apparently darted over to a neighbor's yard where a Rottweiler was chained up in the yard.  The owner of the dogs was not home.

There were no immediate witnesses to the attack, but the family heard the commotion from the attack and ran to find the dog attacking the young child. The child later succumbed to the injuries.

The zip code where this took place has a poverty rate of 28% -  double the national average.  According to the video report, the dog was bought by the owner to be a guard dog for the owner's lawn equipment and was always left chained outside.

The incident is a tragedy --and my heart goes out to the family.  While dogs do tend to be very safe animals and a major part of our lives, things can go awry when humans play a role in the attack. I've mentioned a lot in this blog over the past 6 years the impact tethering as a primary form of containment can have on dog behavior. It's also important to note the importance of a dog's function -- whether the dog is a well-socialized family pet, or an unsocialized yard dog, or a dog that is actually trained and encouraged to be aggressive toward strangers (which would appear to be the situation in this case as the dog was specifically bought for guarding purposes).   And then, there is the role of the unsupervised toddler wandering into the neighbor's yard and up to the chained dog.  There is no limit to the amount of dangers that exist for unsupervised wandering 17 month olds. 

It's a tragedy to be sure...but an avoidable one if people choose to focus on the circumstances surrounding the attack instead of the type of dog involved.

The story was picked up by 41 media outlets.

Comments

[Yvette]

What a tragedy. I blame the parents.

[Dianne R.]

This really makes me angry. The parents were aware of the dog and viewed him as dangerous. Yet they allowed a 17 month old child to go unsupervised -- for even a moment. He could have as easily drowned in a bucket.

[Someone Youdontneedtoknow]

always blame the parnts. had the parents HAD BEEN RIGHT THERE, you dont think that rottweiler wouldve been quicker had it got off its chain? what if it had taken the child from its own yard... you people would be saying "the dog didnt know what it was doing" i blame the OWNER for using a beast as an alarm system...stop victimizing the victims.

[Brent]

Someone,

There is certainly plenty of blame to go around. As I noted in the article, wandering 17 month olds have no limit to the trouble they can find -- swimming pools, ledges, auto traffic, dogs, creeks. So yes, the parents do deserve some blame for the unattended toddler.

This does not leave the dog owners off the hook -- who also have a responsibility to responsibly care for their animal in a way that the animal doesn't become aggressive through poor socialization, improper training and being inappropriately tethered 24/7 as its sole form of containment.

As is usually the case in these situations, there is plenty of blame to go around.

[kmk]

I'm a bit behind on the blog - even Eric Clapton had a toddler that fell out of a high-rise window when he went through a screen. This is someone that had all the money in the world to pay someone to watch that child 24/7. Having watched my sister's children I can honestly say it's a full time job. My nephew was the worst. If I took my eye off of him for a split-second he could find some tiny piece of a plastic toy in the carpet and stick it in his mouth. How he never choked is beyond me.

I'm not really sure why people think dogs are a good way to protect your stuff. That's a mentality that goes back to the middle ages and Merry Old England (when it was anything but "Merry"). It worked great when you could turn mastiffs lose on your estate or inside a walled compound and they could kill poachers and intruders without fear of reprisal. Today, at least in most of the industrialized world, it's just not a good idea. your insurance company would rather replace all of your stuff than pay for a civil action on a dog attack or fatality.

Last week I saw yet another woman (middle aged) whose son had purchased a Cane Corso puppy for her "for protection". I have three words for these idiotic, well-meaning children: "Home Security System". Far easier than a dog and more reliable.

[Arpin Thiel]

Oh! This is so bad. I felt sad about this. I felt sorry for the victim. Parents should watch over their child.

[Ruck Backus]

Yes, it is really a tragedy. For me, I have to blame the mother of the child. It's her responsibilty for the child who is very innocent things may happen aroun him. He should be followed and guided wherever he goes. That's a depressing tragedy.

[Henrickson Council]

Poor child. Although this is a pure tragedy since both the child and the dog are innocent but still the mother is really the one who blame why this happened. She has the whole responsibility to keep the child safe from any danger.

[Sindelar Derrick]

My heart bleeds as I read this news. So sorry for the little baby. The parents and the owners of the dogs must be liable for what had happened. It is the parents’ obligation to make sure of the safety of the child. Moreover, the owner of the dog is liable for such incident. Though they are not around, but it is their obligation to keep the dog away from people so that it will not do any harm to any person or property.