Family dog fatally bites newborn

Attack in San Diego on 3-day-old boy in front of parents comes after pit bull mix is startled by cough by the baby’s mother.

SAN DIEGO — A family dog fatally mauled a 3-dayold boy in front of his parents at their home in the Mira Mesa neighborhood, police said Friday.

The couple was in bed, watching TV, with their newborn when the mother coughed, startling the pit bull mix, according to Sgt. Tu Nguyen of the San Diego Police Department’s child abuse unit.

The dog reacted by biting the baby.

The parents pulled the animal off and raced the infant to a hospital, where he was declared dead.

“At this time it appears to be a tragic accident,” Nguyen said. “It’s such a horrific, tragic case.”

An autopsy will be conducted to confirm the cause of death.

Child abuse detectives were called to the Esplanade Apartments about 8 p.m. Thursday, and county animal control officers came to remove the dog. The owners were not home at the time, said Dan DeSousa, deputy director of the county Department of Animal Services.

It is a 2-year-old, neutered male American Staffordshire terrier-mix named Polo, DeSousa said. He said the dog would be held in 10day quarantine to determine whether it has rabies. After that it will be up to the owner to decide whether to reclaim the dog, he said.

A resident who lives in the apartment complex said she didn’t know the couple but regularly saw the thenpregnant woman walking the dog.

“It’s terrible. It breaks my heart,” Midalia Hernandez said in Spanish, with tears in her eyes. “I would never want to go through something like that.”

Hernandez has a 1-yearold son.

According to experts, even the tamest family dog can change behavior when a baby is brought home; parents are warned to never leave young children alone with dogs, especially on the floor.

“Dogs can become agitated by the sounds and movements of a baby. Dogs have been known to try to move a baby by carrying the baby in their mouths the way a mother dog might do with her puppies. Other dogs have hurt babies because the baby moves and sounds like prey,” according to the nonprofit Doggone Safe, which aims to prevent dog bites through education and victim support.