A one-month-old baby who was bitten by a family pet has died after relatives failed to “pay attention.”
The incident unfolded in Torrance, California, and a neighbor told multiple media outlets that several dogs were living on the property.
Authorities were alerted about an animal bite at around midday Tuesday at a home on Martha Avenue. Upon arrival, the firefighters found the wounded infant who had been bitten by the family dog.
In a desperate effort to save the child, the one-month-old was taken to hospital – but the infant did not survive.
Family friend Faye Tohidi told ABC7: “They’re good people. They just didn’t pay attention to what they should’ve paid attention to, which is really a tragedy – it’s a one-month-old baby.”
"I'm a dog person myself, and I have a dog at home, but the matter is that you don't bring your infant to an atmosphere that has so many big dogs around. And it was wrong to begin with," she added.
Tohidi revealed multiple dogs had been living at the California address including a mastiff, a Pitbull mix, and one other mixed-breed dog. It’s unclear which breed of dog bit the child.
Torrance Animal Control Authorities removed the dog that bit the baby from the home and a follow-up investigation was launched, police said.
Police have not given an exact cause of death or filed any charges.
The child’s name has not been released.
Torrance police Lt. F. Ahmad spoke to reporters at the scene stating: “It could be considered child-endangerment – depending if the parents were neglecting but this is all…we do not know.
“As of right now, an investigation is still ongoing and we do not know if any crime has actually been committed or not.”
