Dog Mauls Baby to Death After Breaking Into Neighbor's House

A newborn girl has died after a neighbor's dog entered her home and attacked her.

The child was at home with her family when the attack occurred on Thursday in Cota, in the Colombian state of Cundinamarca.

The breed of the dog is unknown, but it's thought to have escaped from its owner's home before breaking into the child's house, local news Noticias Caracol reported.

Local authorities are investigating the attack and how the dog managed to enter the child's home.

While the majority of dogs never attack humans, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that over 4 million people are bitten by dogs in the U.S. each year, with one in five of these bites requiring medical attention, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

It's very rare for a dog bite to result in death, with children being more likely to be seriously injured or killed than adults. Between 1999 and 2020, 33 people died on average each year from dog attacks in the U.S., CDC data shows.

This tragic attack comes only weeks after a pitbull attacked three children aged seven, 12 and 16, in the Colombian town of Engativá on June 28.

"They were going with their grandmother, they went for a walk on the bike path, they were passing by when the dog pounced on them and attacked them," the godfather of the seven-year-old told local radio Blu Radio.

"The dog bit them and wouldn't let go. (...) My godson is the one with a very serious injury. They sewed it up yesterday. He needs plastic surgery on his leg so he won't have that horrible bite scar. (Also) he has bites in the groin and buttocks."

Pitbulls are often considered to be one of the most dangerous breeds of dog, due to the large number of attacks reported. Earlier this month, a man's cat was killed by a pitbull in San Jose, California, and a four-year-old was killed by a group of pitbulls in Mexico. This reputation has led pitbulls to be banned in some countries, including the U.K.

However, a study of 18,000 dogs published in the journal Nature in April 2022 found that despite it being "long assumed that a dog's breed shapes its temperament...breed has much less to do with a dog's personality than is generally supposed."

"Whilst we know that aggression has a genetic component, to say that a whole breed is dangerous is a very sweeping statement and doesn't really reflect all dogs," Lynda Taylor, a university lecturer on applied canine behavior from the Depend On Dogs website and the author of the book Fear In Dogs: Theories, Protocols and Solutions, previously told Newsweek.

"In the U.K., breed-specific legislation has some serious flaws. It assumes that all dogs of a certain breed are dangerous and relies heavily on the 'nature' side of the nature vs. nurture argument," she said.

"Sadly, the damage done by a very large dog such as an XL Bully can be devastating compared to a bite with the same intent from a much smaller dog. And because of this, those who choose to have them in their life must take responsibility for both their dog's safety and that of the general public," she said.

Noticias Caracolsaid that in the face of an attacking, aggressive dog, you should try to remain calm and avoid sudden movements, yelling or running. Eye contact with the dog should also be avoided.

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