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Old July 29th, 2008, 09:04 AM
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Puppy kills baby boy?

Something stinks about this whole story.

http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=8746608

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TULSA, Okla. - A black lab puppy mauled and killed a two-month-old boy Monday morning, police said.

Police said it happened while the parents left the child in a baby swing unattended inside their Tulsa home.

Tulsa Police said the 6-week- old black lab bit the baby numerous times. They were unsure how long the baby had been dead when an ambulance was called Monday morning.

When paramedics arrived, the eight and a half-week-old little boy was dead. A forensic examination of the body is pending, but Tulsa Police said it was obvious the baby boy was mauled by a dog.

"Let's just say it was apparent the wounds came from the dog, and we don't know what caused the death of the child, but at this point it appears to be dog bites," said Tulsa Police Officer Jason Willingham.

Police believe it was a 6-week-old black lab puppy which killed the baby.

The child's father was consoled by neighbors who gathered at the scene. The child's 17-year-old mother was visibly distraught. She was taken by ambulance to Saint Francis hospital to be checked out.

"The parents were home. There were several people home, three people at the time of the incident, obviously that's part of the investigation to determine how this tragic event unfolded," said Tulsa Police Officer Jason Willingham.

Police are not sure how the baby was killed without the parents realizing it was happening. Police said the child was unattended in a baby swing for an undetermined amount of time. They were questioning the child's grandmother, who was also in the home.

The first responders were shaken by the scene.

EMSA relieved both the paramedics who responded and the dispatcher who took the call for a stress debriefing.

"All the investigators and firefighters, the paramedics, many of us have children of our own, so when you see something like this occur, that was a defenseless child, it really strikes deep," said Tulsa Police Officer Jason Willingham.

The neighbors were shocked by the news.

"You never think of it happening in your yard or neighborhood," said Tulsan Heejin Davies.

The black lab has been euthanized, police said.
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  #2  
Old July 29th, 2008, 09:08 AM
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wtf, how the frig could that happen? How would you not hear the baby screaming, why would you leave a baby that young unattended. How could a 6week old puppy maul the baby to death and no one notice. Something doesn't sound quite right about that.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 09:08 AM
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I agree totally! A 6 week old puppy killed a child?? Don't think so. Something fishy this way comes.
Poor baby, poor puppy. :sad:
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Old July 29th, 2008, 09:12 AM
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oh thats horrible. I agree something is off here. Three people in the house and no one heard anything. plus no one knows how long the baby's been gone what did they do forget he was there? Even if the dog did it they should never have left that baby alone. Some people should not be parents.


for the puppy and baby
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Old July 29th, 2008, 09:14 AM
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I really am not going to be surprised if the baby had been dead for awhile and not killed by the puppy. I can see the puppy going after the death smell once the baby was dead tho.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 09:23 AM
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If you go to the link Ceara provided, there's a photo of the pup. I'd say it was older than 6 weeks . And I've seen serious signs of aggression in pups as young as 7 weeks.

Having said that, there's no excuse. This baby should never have been left unattended.

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Old July 29th, 2008, 09:26 AM
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I agree....there is definitely something fishy here that doesn't make sense. Three adults in the house and nobody heard anything
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Old July 29th, 2008, 09:31 AM
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One of the many reasons that it is not recommended that puppies be removed from the litter is that interaction with littermates and mother help to teach bite inhibition. Add lack of bite inhibition to dangling, swinging baby legs and you have something pretty darn tempting to a young puppy.

Throw in young, inexperienced parents and you have a recipe for disaster.

Having said all of this, one is left to wonder just what went on before the baby was discovered. How is it nobody heard the baby cry?

I highly doubt that this puppy, no matter what the age, has aggression issues. It is much more likely that a completely untrained dog was left with a very prey-like infant, alone.

And while the dog is being euthanized and blamed - it is most assuredly, once again, the fault of irresponsible owners/parents that were the cause of this infant's untimely death.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 09:40 AM
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Maybe it was not a dog at all. There was a case in Ontario a few years ago of a seven year old little girl who was found dead in the basement of her home, the coroner determined that cause of death was multiple stab wounds and the mother was charged with homicide. After being found guilty and imprisoned, the report was reviewed and it was determined that it was the family dog who had mauled her. It is possible that it is the same situation in reverse.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 09:45 AM
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Thats what I was thinking, Chris. The autopsy should determine if the bites were serious enough to kill an infant. The puppy would only have puppy teeth. Would it even have the strength to maul and swing around a baby?

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Old July 29th, 2008, 09:59 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by luckypenny View Post
And I've seen serious signs of aggression in pups as young as 7 weeks.
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Originally Posted by LavenderRott View Post
I highly doubt that this puppy, no matter what the age, has aggression issues. It is much more likely that a completely untrained dog was left with a very prey-like infant, alone.
You're right. I used the term aggression inappropriately . It was abnormal behavior (in comparison to 'normal' puppies) that I witnessed with one pup in particular, taken away from his mom at 3 weeks and his littermates at 5 1/2.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 10:40 AM
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On another forum (where I got this AP article), someone said they live in the adjacent area where this occurred in Oklahoma, and that they are now studying the contents of the puppy's stomach. That person claimed they heard it on their local news, but I have yet to find any source online for that yet.

I wonder if the pup came from a puppy mill. How many breeders would let a 6 week old go to a new home? And how many puppy mills would let one go at 6 weeks.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 11:43 AM
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Originally Posted by Chris21711 View Post
Maybe it was not a dog at all.
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Originally Posted by Love4himies View Post
Thats what I was thinking, Chris. The autopsy should determine if the bites were serious enough to kill an infant. The puppy would only have puppy teeth. Would it even have the strength to maul and swing around a baby?

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It's hard for me to imagine a 6 weeks old lab , a small pup ,would be able to kill a baby the story is very fishy to me too.
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  #14  
Old July 29th, 2008, 01:02 PM
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I'm having a hard time believing this. My friends just picked up a 12 week old Rotti and I don't think it could do what they claim a 6 week old Lab did. I could understand a pup chewing on the babies toes & feet.
Chalk this up to inexperienced parents and past the blame to the poor dog, the parents should be charged with neglect as no one even knows how long the baby was dead. Their story is fishy and I hope the authorities dig deep to get the truth.
little ones
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Old July 29th, 2008, 01:14 PM
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It's so sad for both the puppy and baby. I agree with everyone how the baby teeth can do any real harm?! This make me remember the case Ving Rhames' Mastiffs fatally maul caretaker. People quickly jumped to the conclusion, and eventually found it wrong. But in this case, even if it proves wrong, the puppy is dead already.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 01:16 PM
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Here's a news update on the story. Includes photos of the teenage parents and the name of the infant.

http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=8753165

Quote:
TULSA, Okla. - Police have released the name of the baby who police say was mauled to death by a puppy Monday morning. The victim was identified as two-month old Zane Alen Earles.

The black Labrador Retriever puppy suspected of killing the baby boy was euthanized at the Tulsa Animal Shelter at the request of police.

Police and animal shelter staff took photographs of the puppy but it's not clear if officials also took bite impressions.

A pug and two cats were also removed from the home. They're being held at the Tulsa Animal Shelter at 3031 N. Erie Avenue.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 01:34 PM
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Thanks for the update.

Unbelievable.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 02:00 PM
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Unhappy The parents are guilty ALL THE WAY!!!

First off, the parents in this case should be charged with child abandonment and manslaughter. THEY ARE THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BABY BEING ALONE!!! For crying out loud he was 8 weeks old! What a couple of idiots! Second, i've never heard of a lab violently attacking anyone unless provoked or abused, let alone a lab puppy! I own a black lab, he is a little over a year old and he wouldn't hurt a fly. A lab might lick you to death, but maul a baby to death??? NO FRICKIN' WAY!!! The parents killed that child, not the dog. Unsupervised is the equivalent of "mauling" the baby yourself in my opinion.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 02:09 PM
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This is a very disturbing story.
The parents were just teens.
Having a newborn baby and a newborn puppy would be quite a challenge, no?

I agree with LabsRule - Someone should get in big trouble for this.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 05:04 PM
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First off, the parents in this case should be charged with child abandonment and manslaughter. THEY ARE THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BABY BEING ALONE!!! For crying out loud he was 8 weeks old! What a couple of idiots! Second, i've never heard of a lab violently attacking anyone unless provoked or abused, let alone a lab puppy! I own a black lab, he is a little over a year old and he wouldn't hurt a fly. A lab might lick you to death, but maul a baby to death??? NO FRICKIN' WAY!!! The parents killed that child, not the dog. Unsupervised is the equivalent of "mauling" the baby yourself in my opinion.
Please don't assume that just because lab attacks don't generally make the news that they don't happen. Every single dog, of every single breed, is capable of biting and/or killing someone. The key is knowing your dog, socializing your dog, training your dog and most of all - never, ever, ever forgetting that your dog most certainly IS capable of biting.

The French woman who had the face implant a couple of years ago was mauled by her own black lab.
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Last edited by LavenderRott; July 29th, 2008 at 05:14 PM.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 05:15 PM
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This is pure speculation on my part, but my first thought was SIDS or something, and that the puppy may have been trying to wake the baby up. I know, that's a long shot...and we don't have enough details to really know. But I don't buy it for a second that a tiny little puppy killed this baby.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 05:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LavenderRott View Post
Please don't assume that just because lab attacks don't generally make the news that they don't happen. Every single dog, of every single breed, is capable of biting and/or killing someone. The key is knowing your dog, socializing your dog, training your dog and most of all - never, ever, ever forgetting that your dog most certainly IS capable of biting.

The French woman who had the face implant a couple of years ago was mauled by her own black lab.
Agrees. I've heard that labs are one of the least like dogs to attack/bite... but I've been bitten twice by a dog and both times they were black labs. Neither were abused animals.

On a side note, while this is completely tragic, I think we should reserve judgement until the full story comes out (the autopsy reports, the parents side of the story, etc). It definately smells fishy, but there are not enough details to be jumping to conclusions here. Perhaps the mother and grandmother were napping. Any parent knows how tired you can be if you have a fussy baby. And maybe grandma was sick. I can honestly see how grandpa would not think twice about leaving the baby in a swing to let them sleep and I could also see how he wouldn't think that a six week old puppy would maul the baby. I'm not by any means saying that this is what definately happened, but hey, its one possible scenario, so I'm not going to jump up and down and automatically scream foul play. Just my .
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  #23  
Old July 30th, 2008, 10:09 AM
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Now they're saying that it was either a lab puppy or a small pug.... Either way, the dog has apparently been put down.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,393682,00.html
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Old July 30th, 2008, 10:44 AM
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SyntheticSmile -I don't see anyone making a judgement As for the stats on dog bites, from what I understand there are more reports of Labs biting than any other breeds.
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Old July 30th, 2008, 10:54 AM
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Now they're saying that it was either a lab puppy or a small pug.... Either way, the dog has apparently been put down.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,393682,00.html
So i guess inncent until proven guilty does not apply to canines. There is no reason that they couldnt have muzzeled him or put him in a crate until they could know how it REALLY happened
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Old July 30th, 2008, 11:51 AM
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[FONT="Arial Black"]SyntheticSmile -[FONT="Arial"]I don't see anyone making a judgement
Exactly , it's our opinions , we do live in a free speech country
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Old July 30th, 2008, 12:00 PM
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My question is, can a 6 week old puppy be physically capable of mauling anything?

I have never had a dog or cat this young, but I just can't imagine their teeth or the strength in their jaw is developed enough to do something described here.

And how high was the swing this baby was in? A puppy that small would have to jump pretty high no?
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Old July 30th, 2008, 12:02 PM
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what i would like to know is holy crap how much damage was done that they couldn't tell the difference between a puppies bite mark and a full grown pugs.
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Old July 30th, 2008, 12:07 PM
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What I would like to know is , will they euthanise the owners if they are found guilty , because they should.
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Old July 30th, 2008, 12:09 PM
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That goes without saying...
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