An American Staffordshire Terrier fatally mauled a newborn baby on Australia’s New South Wales Central Coast at about 2:18 a.m. Sunday, ABC Central Coast reported.
After calling the incident “a matter of tragic proportion,” District Commander Detective Superintendent Darryl Jobson of the Gosford-based Brisbane Water Police said an ambulance took the boy’s mother to a hospital, according to ABC. (RELATED: 77-Year-Old Woman Mauled By Dogs While Sitting On Front Steps)
Breed of dog that killed newborn boy ranks highest in state for attacks https://t.co/xh48zDxIMh
— ABC News (@abcnews) July 12, 2021
“Our thoughts are certainly with the parents, the family, friends and also the first responders involved in this incident,” Jobson told ABC.
Jobson told ABC that police attended the incident and performed CPR on the child before paramedics assisted. The child then died at the scene, according to ABC.
About four weeks ago, the dog mauled a neighboring dog about a month ago, according to ABC.
Jobson said that neighbors are shaken up and that police would receive counseling and support, according to ABC. “Our police did perform first-aid upon arrival – they did their best in the circumstances and they are no doubt shaken by the incident,” Jobson told ABC.
“Anything to do with children of any type, particularly of this nature, is absolutely traumatic,” he added.
Neighbor Coen Moncelet told ABC, “I am feeling for them a lot … I’ve got toddlers myself. It would just be horrible to have to go through that, wouldn’t be good at all.”
Another nearby resident, Trudy Adamson, said, “It’s devastating. I don’t know what to say.”