A tragic incident in Iowa resulted in the death of a nine-month-old baby and serious injuries to a 49-year-old woman after the family dog attacked them inside their home.
Waterloo Police Department officers arrived on the scene around 7:20 am on Thursday, May 4, following the assault on the baby and the grandmother, who sustained injuries while trying to protect the infant. Emergency responders rushed the grandmother to Allen Hospital and later transferred her to the University of Iowa Hospital for further treatment.
Authorities pronounced the baby dead at the scene. After the attack, animal control officers euthanized the dog, a boxer/hound mix, and transported it to Iowa State University for additional examination. Police Captain Jason Feaker confirmed that the investigation is ongoing, and the identities of the victims have not yet been disclosed.
This fatal dog attack is not an isolated incident. In March, a Belgian Malinois dog inflicted severe injuries on three-year-old Xavier Carr while the family was dog-sitting. The dog nearly tore off the child’s arm, prompting his father, Joshua Carr, to call 911 and use his belt as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. Doctors later credited the father’s rapid response for saving his son’s life after surgery to reattach the arm.
In February, a dog bit six-year-old Lily Norton’s face, necessitating a 12-hour operation and over 1,000 stitches. The attack occurred at a friend’s house as the children played cards.
April saw two serious dog attacks in Minnesota. On April 7, a pit bull assaulted a child in a Brooklyn park, and roughly a week later, four dogs fatally mauled a 22-year-old man in a Brooklyn Center home while he was dog-sitting for a relative.