The family dog who fatally bit an 8-month-old baby in Brooklyn was euthanized yesterday. According to the city, the family had requested the dog be euthanized.
On Thursday afternoon, the baby, Andrew Stein, was being watched by his grandmother in his parents' Kensington home. The 62-pound-dog Maccabee apparently bit the baby in the head when Andrew touched his paw. A police official told the NY Times that "infants are particularly vulnerable in such attacks because their skulls are soft and growing rapidly."
The baby's grandmother screamed for help because she wasn't able to get the dog off the baby. Neighbors finally managed to get the baby away from the dog and called 911. The building super Leonardo Collado said he saw "blood on the floor" and the dog was "banging, scratching the door inside the apartment" as he was kept there.
Andrew died on the way to the hospital, and the dog was taken into custody by Animal Care and Control. On Friday, Health Department officials said that the dog would be evaluated and then it would be determined whether the dog should be euthanized for public safety. It's unclear what the results of the evaluation were, but a statement said, "The dog was humanely euthanized at the Brooklyn Animal Care & Control shelter on Friday evening."
Neighbors said that Maccabee always seemed gentle and friendly. One told the Post, "He's a nice dog, the family dog. He wasn't aggressive. It's a terrible tragedy... You don't see this dog and say 'Oh, my God.' It wasn't aggressive. It was a gentle dog. I don't know what could have happened." And our commenter Responsible owner pointed out, from a CDC report, some facts to consider before getting a dog and noted that in 2005, per the National Canine Research Council, "In a SINGLE YEAR, 2005, more than FOUR TIMES as many New York State children died from maltreatment (abuse or neglect) than the TOTAL from ALL dog attacks in New York over the past 43 years."
