Posted on 02/24/2005 3:47:13 AM PST by kanawa
Rocking your baby to sleep in a mechanical swing can trigger a deadly attack on the child by the family dog, a coroner warns.
At least two such deaths have been documented in Maryland over a four-year period, Dr. Albert Y. Chu of the state's medical examiner's office said Wednesday at a meeting in New Orleans of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
The back-and-forth motion may activate the dog's instinct to chase prey, he said.
"Think about dogs chasing cars or tennis balls. They can't control their behavior -- they just go," he said.
In 2003, a 2-week-old boy was dragged from his swing and killed by the family's pit bull in Baltimore after the baby's mother left him to answer the front door. In Edgemere, Md., in 1999, a 3-month-old boy was mauled to death as his parents slept in another room.
An Associated Press check of online news archives found at least one more death -- that of an 18-day-old girl in Tampa, Fla., in 2000 after her mother left the room to warm a bottle for her -- and at least two non-fatal attacks around the country in the past few years.
In one of those cases, in Summerville, S.C., in 2003, the dog lunged for the baby and bit her in front of the child's mother.
In 2000, Sabrina Williamson of Peru, Ind., had gone to the store while her husband napped in another room, about six feet away from 9-week-old Alex. She walked back in and found her husband wrestling their pit bull off the baby. They had had the dog eight years, since Alex's brother was 4.
"I think it could be a key factor. Our dog had never been mean towards a child before," she said in a telephone interview.
The baby's face was bitten and bloody, and his collarbone was broken and protruding from his shoulder, police said.
Dr. Marianne DiPadua of University Foggia in Italy said she is not convinced that the rocking movement sets off the dog. "It's true movement can trigger an attack," she said. But she noted that dogs have also attacked babies in cribs or beds.
Dr. Jane Sanders, a radiologist and a board member of the humane society in Jackson, Miss., said she planned to pass on the information to the shelter's director. Most dog attacks are by pets that have never been aggressive, she said.
Catherine Mills, a Marshall, N.C., dog trainer with 25 years' experience, and John C. Wright, an animal behaviorist at Mercer University, said pets should be conditioned to ignore baby swings before a baby is put into one.
"Put the swing up, leave it on without a baby in it until the dog or cat totally ignores it," Mills said.
Wright suggested even more extensive "desensitization": Get the dog used to a lifelike crying doll -- with a real diaper, if one is available -- then the swing, then the two together.
Everyone interviewed agreed on one thing: Do not leave even the most trusted pet alone with a baby.
Ping
Oh boy, what next.
Experts also agree that mother's milk contains cancer cells!
well off course ban on any dog thats bigger then or equal to .50 cal
its for the children
...dog attacks!
WHAT ABOUT GIANT CAT ATTACKS? EVER SEE A GIANT CAT SWAT A BABY BACK AND FORTH IN ONE OF THOSE THINGS? IT'S HORRIBLE!
Pit bulls...why am I not surprised.
And coincidentaly, both babies were maimed by, gee... go figure... pit bulls. How many incidents of babies being maimed by a terrier?
Anyone with common sense and real love towards their baby would not leave them alon AT ALL.
Bottles, pacifiers, baby swings: mommy substitutes.
Geez, how about holding you baby and rocking it in your arms instead of sticking it in a swing and ignoring it.
Pit bulls -- "the weapon that craps on the sidewalk!"
Pit bulls are good for ________?
From what I understand Dutch doctors are even more deadly.
Just a few heart warming stories about children and their pets:
Mother accused of neglect after baby mauled by ferret
Baby Girl Killed by Family Dog (Pomeranian )
Md. Infant Critical After Mauling by Family Dachshund
That's not at all been my experience.
Like people they can be DISCIPLINED. But no, that might require some TLC and EFFORT.
BAN DOGS! BAN SWINGS! BAN CHILDREN!
FERG_DSAKE, BAN SOMETHING!
Pit bulls are terriers, hence the name pit bull terriers.
The article mentions 5 other historical attacks. Only two are identified as pit bulls.
Focusing concern only on pit bulls is a mistake, possibly a tragic one.
But it was a differant story with my german shepherd one never left her and the kids alone.
The labs I have now are great with kids and they are also great hunters.
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