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A five-week old baby was tragically mauled to death by the family’s Staffordshire terrier, an inquest has heard.
The baby was killed at his home in Central Coast, NSW, in July 2021, while both his parents slept.
The father of the baby, who cannot by named for legal reasons, bought the dog in 2015 for $500 off Gumtree.
The dog was advertised as a pure breed American Staffordshire terrier puppy and was microchipped an resigstered as such, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
However in 2021 the dog’s breed was called into question when it killed the neighbour’s cocker spaniel.
A ranger was called to the family’s home after the spaniel was found dead on the back porch with neck wounds and blood in its fur.
It was the ranger’s view that the Staffy had “pitbull in him” as he was tan with a liver nose and yellow eyes.
The dangerous dog’s owner was given 28 days to prove his dog was not a restricted breed but he was given an extension as his wife had just given birth.
Tragcially, five weeks after the baby boy was born, the Staffy dragged him from his mother’s arms while she lay asleep, having dozed off in a rocking chair while she was feeding him.
Senior counsel assisting the coroner David Kell told the inquest that the father, who had also been asleep, was woken up by the devastated mother who was holding the dead baby in her hands and crying.
“The dog’s got the baby,” she said.
He said the father’s evidence was: “From what I can gather, [she’s] woken up and realised the baby’s not there. She’s walked in and found the baby on the floor in the baby’s bedroom.
“She’s come running out to me, ‘Call the ambulance, call the ambulance,’ which is what’s happened.”
The mother performed CPR on instruction from a triple zero operator but
when paramedics arrive they deemed that the baby’s injuries were incompatible with life.
The father told police the baby had bruises all over his body with blook around his nose and a puncture wound to his chest.
A police officer saw a dog in the backyard with blood on its snout, and blood stains on the nursery carpet.
The dog was taken from the property and euthanised.
The inquest continues.
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