A 1-year-old boy has been killed by his family's pit bull at his grandparents' Magnolia-area home about 50 miles northwest of Houston.
Montgomery County Sheriff's Lt. Dan Norris says in a prepared statement that the boy was mauled Saturday night inside the home. When a deputy responded around 8 p.m. the dog lunged and the deputy shot the dog. No information was available about the condition of the dog.
The boy was home with his 45-year-old grandmother at the time. She was not injured. The boy and his mother had recently moved in with the grandparents. Authorities had not released any identities.
According to DogsBite.org, pit bull attacks accounted for 71 percent of the fatal dog attacks in the United States in 2011. Of 22 total pit bull victims, 32 percent were ages 5 years and younger. The website also reports Texas and California led in dog bite fatalities with four deaths each, 7 of the 8 deaths were attributed to pit bulls and pit bull mixes.
In October 2011, 11-day-old Mya Maeda was snatched from her bassinet in the middle of the night by the family dog, a pit bull-mastiff mix. The baby girl died the following morning from head trauma from the attack.
In September 2011, 2-week-old Brayden McCollen was badly injured by the family pit bull-mix
, he was taken by LifeFlight to a Houston hospital where he died five hours later.
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Pit bull experts and advocates warn dogs, regardless of breed, can become aggressive especially with children, and that pit bulls get more attention because its bite is generally more powerful and damaging then that of other dogs.
DogsBite.org says many serious attacks occur when a child is visiting a home of a relative with a pit bull or when the dog is new to the child's home. Infants and toddlers should never be left alone with any dog breed.
