New York City — An 8-month-old boy was attacked and killed by the family's pet Doberman pinscher in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon, police said.
The 7-year-old dog, a neutered male named Maccabee who had been a member of the family since he was a puppy, set upon Andrew Stein after he touched the dog's paw inside the family's home, the boy's grandmother told police.
The grandmother, who was baby-sitting Andrew and was in the kitchen at the time, heard the child scream and ran to see what happened.
The grandmother ran next door and enlisted the help of a neighbor who pulled the dog off Andrew, brought the baby to his apartment and performed CPR on him while his wife dialed 911.
Andrew was rushed to Kings County Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The child's parents were not home.
Comments
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jcstepmom28 (anonymous) says…
How very sad for the family. Please remember that you should never leave young children alone with dogs.
blue73harley (anonymous) says…
Wow. Bearded_Clam sounds meaner than an old deranged lab.
I just wanted to add one thing. Be careful with little ones while dogs are eating. Some dogs get very protective of their food, no matter what the breed. When I was a kid, I witnessed a beagle attack a toddler who got too near it's dog dish.
Valkyrie_of_Reason (Kathy Getto) says…
Pea-brained, in-bred Dobie. This is so sad.
Pywacket (anonymous) says…
This story raises several questions, which some of you have already asked. No matter the breed, this is asking for trouble. And why didn't Grandma, instinctively, you'd think, tackle the dog herself (with a hammer, kitchen knife, whatever she could grab!) instead of losing critical time getting help? I mean to tell you, if that had been my child/grandchild/ANY child, I'd have been all over it--as, I'm sure, all of you would.
Once, while I was walking my firstborn, a snarling dog rushed the stroller, and I jumped between him and the stroller without thinking. In fact, I must've moved pretty quickly, as the dog didn't have time to swerve and its bared teeth scraped my leg (it didn't continue attacking--I was bellowing at it and it was a smallish dog, so it was intimidated). It's instinctive--to protect that kid, you just take whatever hit is coming.
I wouldn't offer these criticisms of Grandma if the situation were local--obviously, she'll have to live with this for the rest of her life, and who would want to make her feel worse? And--again, obviously--there may be more to the story that we don't know. Maybe she is feeble (and shouldn't have been left with the responsibility), or did try to stop the attack. My comments are thus made conditionally, with the premise that the story is complete and accurate. I'd change some of my comments if it turned out there were more to the story.
Kampinqueen (anonymous) says…
Such a very sad story, and it reminds me of the time when my brother was walking his rot on a very large chain and a little girl didn't listen to not pet the dog and she was bitten. Accross her face was a rip that will be a scare for the rest of her life. Please be cautious of others dogs, you just don't know what they will do to you, they don't know you.
HodgePodge (Erin Parmelee) says…
Gosh, that's really awful. I agree when people say "just because a dog is a certain breed doesn't mean it's a bad dog", but I think people have to really really think about their dogs when they leave them in the presence of young children. I know that people love their dogs, and often owners of breeds known to be prone to violence (Pit bulls, Rots, Wolf Hybrids, etc.) say "yes, but never MY dog." Hopefully that is true, but it's not worth the risk of something like this happening. I have a small dog, but I can still appreciate he is unpredicitable and would never leave him with children unsupervised.
DonnieDarko (anonymous) says…
Gee, Bearded_Clam...I sure would hate to have to knock your sorry ass to the ground in front of everyone and take your "big 'ol pocket knife" away from you if I ever saw you trying to be a tough guy at the dog park. I've been going to the dog park for 8 years regularly and have never seen a pitbull attack another dog there, but I have seen some regular 'ol labs, german shepherds, golden retrievers and little bitchy dogs attack. My advice to you is to drop the whole doggie vigilante crap, and just watch your own dog...and stop talking crap on breeds of dogs that you don't know anything about or understand.
Confrontation (anonymous) says…
I think it's important for every parent of a small child to have some sort of weapon for dog attacks. I wouldn't think twice about killing someone's useless mutt if it attacked my child or someone else's. At some point, the protection of dogs became more important than the protection of humans. Sad.
Pywacket (anonymous) says…
Um... let me get this straight, Donnie(in the)Darko~ If a dog attacked a kid or a smaller dog, and did so with serious intent, you would actually try to intervene when someone went to the kid's or smaller dog's defense? What a man. (And I'm sure Bearded is shaking in his boots. Not.)
Bearded's comments seemed rational to me--being prepared (with a knife or otherwise) seems a prudent step, in light of the fact that (a) you have no idea what kind of people will bring their (possibly lethal) dogs to the park and (b) if a serious attack is taking place--such as that which killed the child in the story--there would not be time to run around, wringing your hands, looking for a rock or some other object with which to disable 90 or 140 pounds of raging dog.
He did not say he would kill someone's pet if it looked at him sideways, only if it was mauling someone or another dog--so why the overreaction from you?
DonnieDarko (anonymous) says…
Yeah, Pywacket...maybe we should "get this straight", since you seem to want to put words in my mouth. I was referring to Bearded Idiot's tough-guy talk about "pitbulls and junk dogs", and specifically in regards to interaction with other dogs at the dog park. Nothing was mentioned about kids, right? Thanks, and next time try reading and understanding an entire post before you spout off with your crap.
That being said, I certainly would not "intervene" if anyone was defending another dog (much less a child) being attacked. Bearded's comments were biased against one breed of dogs, and come from the type of person who goes looking for trouble based on such bias. The overreaction was on your part, since neither Bearded nor I mentioned anything about dogs attacking humans.
Pywacket (anonymous) says…
Bearded: "sure would hate to have to put down someone's dog right in front of them if that dog was to attack someone or their pup:"
Learn to read, dummydarko. What do you think he meant by "someONE"?
DonnieDarko (anonymous) says…
You know what, Pyweirdo? You're right, I missed the "someone" in that sentence. I was a little distracted by Bearded's "pitbull/junk dog" assessment, which still stands.
geniusmannumber1 (anonymous) says…
I agree with the general tenor of this conversation (crazy dog vigilante stuff aside), which I take to be that most problems with "vicious dogs" stem from ignorant owners. As a pet owner, I know it's easy to shrug off some of the more irritating things your animal does simply because it's yours. But anyone with their head not stuck halfway up their whatever knows a vicious dog when they see one. When my dog steals food off my plate right in front of me, it's irritating, but I'm petting her an hour later. But if my dog made a habit of snarling and biting, sad as it might be, that dog has to go. That's just being responsible. That's being an adult.
Sadly, most people don't get it. There was a pitbull (or two, I can't remember) running around in town a few years ago. Apparently the owner just didn't care. Just running out loose. Finally, it got to taking after some kids. Luckily, a police officer managed to catch the dog and take it to the humane society, where, using objective tests, pretty easily discovered the dog was vicious beyond hope of recovery, and just had to be put down. Sad, but that's life. Naturally, this caring owner, the one who can't see there's a killer right in front of her face (perhaps because it's always running around loose?), takes responsibility, right? Nope, sues the city. Wants the dog back. Far as I know, my taxes are still going to board the beast. Point is, It's not the breed, it's the owner. Some people just shouldn't be allowed to have pets
coolmarv (anonymous) says…
How tragic? Animals can be very unpredictable. Whether your at home or the zoo.
DonnieDarko and Pywacket
How old are you two?
I was also impressed that B_C posted without using the F-word. At least once anyway.
DonnieDarko (anonymous) says…
Bearded...I've seen some of your other "thoughtful" posts on this site, and I'll resist the temptation to comment on them. We'll just stick to this last one that you made: "In my opinion Pits are worthless, totally worthless".
The attack by the dog in this news story (remember that? an actual item of news?) is a doberman. Are all dobermans worthless? Are all german shepherds worthless? They attack a lot, too. Are poodles worthless? (Actually, I think they are, but not for the same reasons) They bite a LOT.
Yes, Bearded, I own a pitbull. Not only do people like to bring their young ones to my house...they also like to stop and have their children pet my dog when I'm out walking her regularly. She has never growled at a person in her entire life, and has nothing to do with dogs that get into skirmishes at the dog park. Did that answer your question, "dude"?
DonnieDarko (anonymous) says…
All conservatives are adulterous liars.
DonnieDarko (anonymous) says…
Dude, your poodle craps all around that jungle gym, and you never clean it up. I'm not coming within 30 feet of it at night unless I'm wearing old shoes.
ModSquadGal (anonymous) says…
So....... a little off topic much? Donnie and Bearded_Clam, why doncha put it back in your pants and try to remember a child was mauled to death in this story.
ANY dog can attack. And yes, certain breeds are more prone to it. But you should NEVER feel like you're in the clear because you have a Poodle and not a Pit. The dog in this story was 7 years old and a family pet since it was a puppy. You just never know, and you just have to be prepared.
Oh, and anybody taking an aggressive dog to the dog park, SHOULD be prepared to have others intervene and deal with it should it get out of hand. Otherwise, just stay home.
Kontum1972 (anonymous) says…
guns and dogs...its a great country...
in vietnam they do not have a dog problem..they eat them.
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
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Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com
http://www.uscentrist.org
doc1 (anonymous) says…
I have an idea. Put your worthless pit bulls, rots and dobermans in the lion cage at the zoo and see how tough they think they are then.
DonnieDarko (anonymous) says…
I have a better idea, doc1: Put your worthless dogfighters (Michael Vick can be first in line) and anyone else who abuses ANY breed of dog in the lion cage, since they're obviously the ones that "think" they're tough. I'd pay to see that.
geniusmannumber1 (anonymous) says…
Wait! I have an even better idea! Let's get some dolphins, with razorblades on their fins, and a homeless veteran with an eerie resemblance to Bob Barker, and a cardboard cutout of Margaret Thatcher that shoots poison out of her cardboard eyes, and put them underneath what appears to be a transparent dome but is really an upside down fishbowl, because it turns out that all of these creatures are no more than two inches tall, and make them, under threat of flogging, to employ strict parliamentary procedure to hold a formal debate on which of the Beach Boys should face a nationally-televised death by firing squad. No, wait. That was a dream I had. Um.
Wait! I have a dream! That's what I meant.
kneejerkreaction (anonymous) says…
All you dog defenders should reread this story, 'cause you obviously didn't get it.
A dog killed a kid. ALL dogs are potentially dangerous. ALL.
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
Just for you, geniusmannumber1...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYN...