Gage Goulding – NBC-2/Facebook
A southwest Florida mom was recently released from jail after posting a $7,500 bond on a charge related to her baby being attacked by a pit bull puppy. The baby had several fingers amputated after they were reportedly chewed off by the family’s new puppy while the mom was taking a shower, reported Miami Herald.
The 21-year-old mother, Chloe Wisniewski, tested positive for THC, which sent the incident to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office’s Major Crimes Unit, the news outlet reported. The baby, whose age has not yet been released, had several fingers amputated from her left and right hand.
Sadly, 68% of dog bites occur in children younger than 5 years old, according to analysis published in the medical journal Craniomaxillofacial Trauma & Reconstruction. Pit bulls as a breed are known to be more aggressive and accounted for 72% of fatal dog attacks in the US in 2018, per World Animal Foundation.
The initial incident with Wisniewski’s baby and 3-month-old pit bull puppy took place in February, though it wasn’t until recently she was arrested and charged. The original arrest documents showed that Charlotte County police went to a home in Port Charlotte on February 14 to investigate a dog bite incident, per Miami Herald.
Wisniewski told authorities she had placed her baby in a bassinet to take a shower and while she was in the bathroom, heard the baby “screaming” and found their pit bull puppy Apollo “chewing” on the baby’s hand. The mother quickly pulled the dog away from the baby, wrapped her baby’s fingers up and called 911, the outlet reported.
The baby was rushed to a local hospital and later flown to Tampa General Hospital, where she had three fingers amputated on her left hand and two fingers partially amputated on her right, per Front Page Detectives. The puppy was quarantined according to protocol and transferred to the Animal Welfare League, the news outlet reported.
The mother has been investigated for several months and is now under supervised visitation.
Authorities did find the mother guilty of child neglect once she tested positive for THC during a urine analysis, per Miami Herald. The mother was arrested June 16, after several months of investigation, and charged with child neglect, per Front Page Detectives. The baby has been recovering well with family, and after posting a $7,500 bond on Monday, the mom was released and allowed to see the child under supervised visitation, per Miami Herald.
The majority of dog attacks happen to young children.
Sadly, many dog attacks that take place involve young children and are preventable by not leaving them with the pet unsupervised. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year and 885,000 of these require medical attention, according to a study published in the medical journal Craniomaxillofacial Trauma & Reconstruction.
No matter how well trained or gentle a dog may appear to be, it is also recommended to never leave children unsupervised with one, per Kids Health.
People are appalled that the baby was left unattended.
Readers of the Yahoo News article about the case were horrified that the mother left a new puppy, which was evidently not trained, alone with her baby.
“This was pure stupidity,” one reader commented. “Puppies have very sharp teeth and a childs hand just sitting there to them is a toy, especially since the dog didn’t have a chance to learn that this was not a toy. This was not a dog being vicious, it was a puppy teething on the closest item making noise like a squeaky toy. I hope he will be rehomed into a family where he will flourish.”
“WHO leaves an infant alone with a pit bull???” one reader wondered. Another reader pointed out even a dog is gentle and kind you should never leave them alone with small children.
“Never, ever leave an infant alone with a dog, regardless our sweet and gentle that dog may seem,” commented another reader.
Another wrote: “That is one sad story! Babies fingers get chewed off do to mother taking shower and not securing new pit bull puppy. Wow….sad, sad,