Posted on 06/08/2010 1:33:53 PM PDT by JoeProBono
ST-HYACINTHE, Que. — The mother of the three-week-old baby killed on Monday after being mauled by one or more dogs has been charged with manslaughter.
She was released Monday afternoon but isn't allowed to be in charge of children under the age of 12 while awaiting trial.
The baby's 17-year-old mother and 37-year-old grandmother, had been smoking on a balcony close to their kitchen Monday, where the baby was seated in a portable car seat when the dogs attacked the child, Andre Williams, the 17-year-old's lawyer, said on Tuesday.
"The mother is devastated by what happened, " Williams said.
Police had confirmed Monday the infant was pronounced dead inside a home in St. Barnabe Sud, a small community about 70 kilometres northeast of Montreal late in the afternoon.
The grandmother was released from custody Tuesday afternoon and will not face charges.
The teenager, her boyfriend, the baby's father, had moved into the house only a week ago, on June 1, Williams said. He was not on the property at the time of the attack. The two lived there with two other couples, one of which owns the home, he said. A couple living with the baby's mother and her boyfriend own two huskies, at least one of which mauled the 21-day-old child, police said.
At the time of the attack, there were four dogs in the house. The other two dogs, a husky-golden retriever mixed-breed dog and its puppy, were in a cage in the home at the time of the attack, Williams said. The caged dogs belonged to the 17-year-old and her boyfriend.
The mother of the baby was treated for shock at a hospital on Monday.
She and her mother were taken into police custody on Monday night.
Guy Vaillamcourt was across the street Monday night and was shaken by the tragedy that had unfolded nearby.
"I saw so many police cars, and I didn't know what was happening," he said, glancing at two police officers stationed at the end of his driveway. "But when they started talking about dogs, I knew right away which dogs they were talking about. My wife came outside one night not long ago after she heard them, thinking they were wild animals. They were two huskies, a male and a female."
Vaillamcourt said the dogs had escaped twice recently, but were not noticeably aggressive.
"I thought, they could cause an accident on the highway, running across that way. But not something like this."
Neighbours said they were not aware of any newborn currently living in the home, and speculated the child may have been visiting the residence.
But Quebec provincial police Sgt. Ronald McInnis confirmed Tuesday morning that the 17-year-old and her baby did reside at the home. The late baby's grandmother, however, was only visiting the home when the attacks took place, he explained.
At the St. Hyacinthe courthouse Tuesday, several friends of the 17-year-old mother turned up to offer support.
I'm also against income taxes, government schools and unions.
Not necessarily. I had a greyhound that loved to run off and roam. She was the sweetest dog you could ever meet. Being a rescue, she hated being contained.
Exactly right. Dogs sometimes don’t realize how big they are. My largest is 110 to 120 pounds, depending on the time of year. He still thinks he is just a little guy, and has slammed into my knees just by accident, which has caused injury. He’s just a big sweetie who is like a bull in a china shop, to use a cliche. :)
I wouldn't normally think of huskies as an aggressive breed.
I'm careful of my kids around dogs since my kids are irreplaceable, and a large dog can do considerable damage even if they are just overly friendly.
I wonder if the child seat was on the ground or placed somewhere out of easy reach of the dogs. I don't have a dog, so it's not something I've had to worry about inside my home. I guess you have to know the nature of the dogs to know if you have to constantly protect a baby from them.
I'm glad they weren't smoking around the baby, but that wasn't the real danger in this case.
Since they are charging her I guess they believe she should have known the dogs were a serious danger to the child.
A tragedy.
Yeah, but your life was never in danger from the Chihuahua. Pit Bull and Rottie attacks are life changing (or ending events). Most other dog bites range from minor annoyances to moderate, but not life altering injuries.
We have “breed specific legislation” for automobiles. One is not permitted to drive a tractor trailer or haul hazardous materials, with an ordinary license. Pit Bulls, Rotties and a few other breeds are the canine equivalent of tractor trailers.
More government control is always a mistake.
>More government control is always a mistake.<
Usually, but not always. More control over illegal immigration would be a great thing. So would longer sentences for violent criminals.
Really? Do you think we need more laws regarding illegals?
Do you think that an infant would be in danger of a fatal attack from a chihuahua?
Awwwwwww.
Poor animal.
Huskies are generally very intelligent and well behaved. However, they are big strong energetic dogs and can easily kill a baby or any small mammal just playing with it. They are a Working Dog breed and need a lot of exercise. Without knowing the exactly what happened we do not know how these dogs’ temperaments or how they were cared for affected what happened. Our Husky killed the neighbor’s litter of kittens but it was not out of viciousness, he was just horsing around with them.
See? That dog is clearly trying to smother that baby! ;)
Well, taking into account location and owner preference, maybe not.
I had a little poodle that liked to bolt, and although his problem never threatened my life, he was struck by a car and died. Because of that, I’ve door-trained my dogs pretty thoroughly. If we lived in a rural area, maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal.
“I saw that, but IMHO, the conclusion is not supported by the research. Clearly, a very small number of dog breeds cause nearly all the deaths. Also, the studies all show that the same breeds that cause nearly all the fatalities, are responsible for a similar percentage of serious injuries and maimings.”<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The excerpt from that study Joe put up is only a small part of what they had to say about the breed issue. The authors also went on to say that certain breeds are over-reported and often misidentified in media reports, which is where the source information for the statistics originated, not to mention grouping all similar-looking dogs together and calling them all “pit bull-type” will inevitably skew results (there are over 13 separate, pure breeds that are grouped into this one category, some of which outweigh actual pit bull terriers by 60 to 100 pounds). There are over 50 breeds of dog that have taken human lives since we have been compiling the numbers. Often, the dog that is most popular with the young/thug/thinks it’s cool crowd is also the number one listed in fatalities, as we have seen throughout the decades ranging from German Shepherds to Rotties to Dobies, and even Bloodhounds back in the 1800’s.
Incidentally, in Canada, sled-type dogs are the most common types of dogs involved in fatalities. They are also the most popular type due to the terrain. Many are left outside, chained up, and encouraged to pack up, and many are not family pets, which many studies show are common factors in fatal dog attacks.
The study may be confusing to some when it comes to the author’s stance on the breed issue, but they do make it very clear that their results show irresponsible ownership to be the common denominator in every attack, pit bull or not. This is why some places have not banned breeds of dog. Calgary implemented responsible ownership laws instead of breed bans, and they have since seen a dramatic reduction in all dog attacks. Places like Denver and the UK have banned breeds of dog and found that their attacks have not declined. The UK has actually seen an increase in attack numbers since banning pit bull-type dogs, and they now have more of them living in the country than they did before the bans! The thug community wanted the dogs more when they were told the dogs were dangerous, and now the UK has a REAL problem.
Lastly, notice that in the AVMA and CDC study, it is mentioned that the average number of fatalities has not risen (except to account for increases in both canine and human populations) since pit bulls have become popular.
ALL sight hounds will “bolt”, given the chance and the reason.
The reason could be as stupid as a piece of paper flitted about by the breeze that to them, is exhibiting a “prey-like” behavior
The #1 cause of “non-natural” sight hound deaths is car strikes.
Doesn’t matter if you train them and get a CDX title...one rabbit, squirrel or plastic bag zips by and 5000+ years of instinct kicks in and there’s not a single damn thing you can do about.
Leashes and fences are the immutable law.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.