Oh no! An 8-month-old baby bitten by a family dog was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital.
The family lives on Ocean Parkway in the Prospect Park South/Kensington neighborhood. According to NY1, the baby had been in his grandmother's care "when the family Doberman bit his head. Sources say the attack may have occurred after the baby touched the dog's paw." WNBC reports police shot the dog with a dart and Animal Control removed it from the home.
Dobermans are considered alert, intelligent and loyal; they are less involved with fatal human attacks than pit bulls, Rottweilers and German shepherds, according to a 2000 CDC study (PDF). City Council member Peter Vallone has proposed legislation banning residents from owning pit bulls because the breed "often a weapon of choice of drug dealers and gangs seeking to intimidate and terrorize neighborhoods." Currently NY State has a law prohibiting breed-specific legislation.
