I'm going to go sob in a corner now :(

[ET Awful]

:cry: :cry: :cry:

Two days after she was born, Alexis McDermott came home to live with her parents and the family's pet, a medium-sized male Siberian husky named Shadow.

Yesterday, Alexis's family in Coventry, R.I., was grieving, and Shadow was in the custody of the local animal control officer, as authorities considered what to do with the dog that apparently pulled the infant from a portable crib and bit her multiple times, causing internal injuries that killed the baby. She was six days old.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2005/07/15/babys_death_by_dog_bite_a_horrible_tragedy/

[jus_the_facts]

1. here's another tragic story to make you cry harder.....

Reddish SUV, black or blue pickup truck sought in fatal collision

More detailed descriptions of two vehicles involved in a fatal hit-and-run wreck surfaced Tuesday.

Jehu Self, 62, was hit by two vehicles while riding his bicycle on the Garrett Road overpass of Interstate 20 on Monday.

However, neither of the drivers will likely be arrested if they come forward, according to the crash investigator, Monroe police Cpl. J.L. Sanders.

"Everything we have seen so far doesn't put them at fault for anything other than leaving the scene," he said. "I just want to look at the vehicles. We can work on the charges, if any. If I have to continue to look for them, they will be arrested."

Self veered into oncoming traffic on the overpass about 4 p.m. Monday and was carried to St. Francis Medical Center where he later died.

Additional information from phone tips Tuesday and further recollection from established witnesses provided a better description of the two vehicles.

A maroon or dark red, 1998 or 1999 Ford Explorer or Expedition was northbound when it struck Self, knocking him into the southbound lane. The sports utility vehicle had four doors and tinted windows with damage probably on the front right side.

The unknown driver fled west on I-20 as a second vehicle, described as a black or dark blue pickup truck with a standard cab and truck bed hit the victim again.

That vehicle also left the scene but headed east on I-20.

Several witnesses to the wreck remember something silver in color that contrasted to the dark truck color.

Sanders added they were scanning surveillance tapes from nearby businesses for the vehicles.


Originally published July 13, 2005

http://thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050713/NEWS01/507130320/1002

[ET Awful]

3. WTF is wrong with people?

I mean . . . this is worse than the dog in many ways . . . these people actually fucking ran away, that is so fucked up. :(

[jus_the_facts]

34. Indeed.....can't even begin to conceive of how they could leave him....

....TWO different people hit and run?! :wtf: INDEED! :(

[Maddy McCall]

2. Here comes my question.

Didn't the parents know that it's a precarious situation to introduce a baby to a home that has pets, especially a pet that was the "child" of the household before the introduction of the baby?

Didn't the parents know that the baby should have been kept out of the dog's reach, until the dog adjusted to having a new little being there?

This is tremendously sad. I hope that the family can have--or at least wants--Shadow back.

[ET Awful]

4. Well, the baby was in a crib, the dog had never been known to be

aggressive in any way. I'd say that the parents were duly cautious.

edit: after a re-read, it doesn't specifically say she was in a crib. But I still believe the parents were duly cautious.

[LisaL]

7. If the mother was duly cautious, she wouldn't leave the dog

and a baby alone together.

[ET Awful]

8. Some people always seek to find someone to blame for tragedy.

Then there are those with compassion who realize that sometimes accidents are just accidents and tragedies are just tragedies.

Personally, I don't seek to place blame in situations like this, obviously you choose to do otherwise.

[LisaL]

12. It's only common sense. And that article gives

a good explanation of why one shouldn't leave a baby alone with the dog.
Dogs can confuse baby's cries and jerky movements with that of a prey.
The predatory instinct kicks in-and they injure or kill the baby.

[bicentennial_baby]

14. Especially Huskies

My Siberian female has bad 'baby aggression'. It applies to her own puppies that had to be taken from her, kittens, human babies. It's not unheard of, in the slightest.

[Maddy McCall]

19. A good friend of mine had a Rottie.

He had always been a gentle giant. He had never been aggressive to my friend or his wife. Well, when they brought the baby home, the dog went psycho. They had to give the dog away.

He was truly a gentle dog--he had lived inside with the couple since they had married--but bringing a new small being into the home...a small being that took all of the time that he used to have devoted to him...was enough to set him off.

[ET Awful]

15. The article also rightly points out

"Nobody has suggested that this is a situation of abuse and neglect or that it is anything other than horrible tragedy"

But feel free to keep seeking to place blame.

[LisaL]

17. Horrible tragedy that could have been prevented if

the mother didn't leave her dog alone with the baby.

[Maddy McCall]

24. It also says:

Moon-Fanelli and Scott Giacoppo, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said families need to carefully prepare for the arrival of a newborn into a home where a dog is already living, regardless of the breed.

Before an infant comes home, they said, a family should share objects rich with an infant's scent with the dog, a blanket or even a soiled diaper, so the animal can use its most potent sense, that of smell, to familiarize itself with the new family member and not see it as prey. The dog should be restrained and the child always held in an adult's arms during initial encounters.

''Our hearts go out to the family," Giacoppo said. ''They probably never imagined that their dog could do it. But leaving a young child or an infant with a dog who is unsupervised -- things like this happen."

Moon-Fanelli said parents should keep a wary eye on interaction between child and pet for as long as six years and never assume that a breed's reputation for friendliness toward children automatically carries over to their pet.

''There are not guarantees that the dog is going to be well adapted to living in your particular home," she said, adding that a golden retriever was recently euthanised in Connecticut after twice biting someone.

A Coventry police spokesman said it was not known if the McDermott family had taken any steps to prepare Shadow for the arrival of the infant.

[Maddy McCall]

11. That's my point.

Thanks. I'm not heartless, but that's the first thing I thought. And the father should have been more careful, too, since mom was probably recuperating from childbirth.

Someone should have been with the baby when the dog was around, at all times.

[ET Awful]

13. Having had large dogs the whole time I was growing up, and having

had two infant sisters raised in the company of those large dogs, I don't necessarily agree.

Hell both of our dogs were more likely to challenge anyone that came close to my little sister than to do anything to her. They stood guard around her while she played in the yard.

Sorry, but trying to place blame anywhere here is ridiculous. You don't always have to have someone to blame when tragedy occurs.

[LisaL]

16. Dogs might confuse babies with pray, and even dogs that didn't

show aggression might go for the baby.
So, how ridiculous is to place the blame here? Dog and baby alone. Dog thinks the baby is dinner. So, dog and baby shouldn't be left alone unsupervised. Pretty simple, actually.

[RebelOne]

35. I don't think dogs pray.

[Maddy McCall]

20. ET, I don't think you are being fair to the ones of us who disagree with..

you.

It is a tragedy. It IS very sad. No one is blaming anyone. Suggesting that the dog should have been watched when around the baby is NOT placing blame. It's just my way of making sense of an avoidable tragedy.

[ET Awful]

23. Bologney.

Everyone here has blamed the mother. Sorry, but "what was the mother thinking?" is blaming the mother.

Sorry, but when you have to find someone to accuse of wrongdoing, you're seeking to place blame, that's kind of how it works.

[Maddy McCall]

25. Sad that we disagree...

and you are taking it so personally. :(

[ET Awful]

26. I'm not taking it personally, I'm taking it as a sign of what many DUers

thought processes actually are.

[Maddy McCall]

28. And your conclusion is?

I'm flabberghasted by your angry response. I'm sorry that I upset you so early in the morning. I've only apologized, what, three times to you, not because I think I am wrong, but because I don't want you to be angry.

Forgive me for having and expressing an opinion on a discussion thread.

[ET Awful]

31. You don't have to apologize, my conclusion is that I would rather

not share these news stories than to have people immediately point fingers at parents who are in enough pain as it is.

[fortyfeetunder]

27. It's both parents, especially the dad

There is no blame but obviously lack of responsibility. The article didn't tell the story whether the parents prepped the dog for the arrival, and how the dog had unsupervised access to the baby.

[MuseRider]

9. My question too.

I brought both of my babies home into a house with 3 very large dogs. I went to great lenghts to be certain the dogs could not get to them. I introduced them in special, well thought out ways. The reason I did that? BECAUSE I knew that even very sweet dogs can go a little nuts sometimes.

It is a terrible situation, a very very sad story but it is the stupidity of the pet owners not a problem with the pet.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

5. Mind if I join you?

That is truly heartbreaking.

[ET Awful]

6. There's plenty of room in my corner . . .

would you like a tissue? :(

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. Yes, thank you

This really bothered me... the poor little one and the poor parents. :cry:

[ET Awful]

18. You know what, screw this.

I'm sick and tired of this. Every time someone posts a tragic occurrence on DU, there are people that just HAVE to point fingers and blame SOMEONE. Frankly, I'm sick of it.

A child gets hit by a car? BLAME THE MOTHER.

An infant gets killed by a dog? BLAME THE MOTHER.

A child gets kidnapped? BLAME THE PARENTS, they weren't watching her closely enough.

One of humanities greatest faults is that anytime anything tragic occurs, their first reaction is to point fingers and place blame. Unfortunately, that trait is more prominent here at DU than almost anywhere else.

I'm finished. I'll never again post any kind of news item at DU because I've finally learned that people would rather try and find someone to blame than anything else.

[LisaL]

21. Well, what do you expect when you post things like this?

:shrug:

[Maddy McCall]

22. You are being unfair.

People are going to discuss tragedies. They try to find a way to make sense of the senseless.

I hope you don't stay angry.

:hug:

[iconoclastic cat]

30. ETA, you are seeing one of the stages of grief, either anger or denial.

These are not people who can only respond with jaded, callous finger-pointing. They are going through their own grieving process.

[JimmyJazz]

32. It's an unfortunate, but natural reaction.

People are just trying to make sense of the senseless. :hug: And, to an extent, trying to convince themselves that this sort of thing won't/can't happen to them.

[ET Awful]

33. Thanks JJ

And here's a :hug: right back at you.

[WilliamPitt]

37. Someone needs a time out

[fortyfeetunder]

29. This has not been a good week for the young in the news

I think of the lost young lives in Iraq this week, the story about the chemical contamination reported in newborns, the story about the 3YO boy killed by his dad because the dad thought he was gay, the 18 month old baby who was killed by the LAPD when her dad held her as a human shield, and this story. And the story earlier this week about the young injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan being forced to discharge from the armed services before their medical needs were completed.

:cry:

[Maddy McCall]

36. Kicking this thread to add context to the "Rant" thread.