Ryan Foster, 19-months old, was mauled to death by a family rottweiler in Brooklyn.
Mother Speaks Out
UPDATE 08/12/21: On Tuesday night, 19-month old Ryan Foster was killed by a family rottweiler used for “security.” His older brothers, 9 and 11 years old, were not injured. On Wednesday, the child’s father, Vernon Foster, was arrested and charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and acting in a manner injurious to a child after leaving his children unattended with the dog. Now the child’s mother, Susan Hyre, is speaking out, who has custody of the children.
Hyre told WPIX that Ryan was her “miracle baby.” I never thought I would have children again, she explained, “because I had a very complicated pregnancy.” Hyre, who is currently separated from Foster, said that Foster picked up the children on Monday for regular visitation. She was unaware of Foster’s plans to bring the children to his own parent’s apartment in the 300 block of East 17th, where the rottweiler is kept. The boy’s grandparents were out of the country at the time.
Hyre told the Daily News that Buster had previously bitten her 11-year old son, Jayden, in 2019. “My child literally has bite marks from that dog and the marks are still there,” Hyre said. “He was bit on the leg by the same dog.” Hyre described Buster as “a guard dog, not a dog meant to be around children.” She called Foster’s actions “the ultimate betrayal.” When “you know this dog is a vicious dog and you left the kids there,” Hyre said, referring to Foster. “That’s careless.”
According to a Brooklyn Criminal Complaint, Foster was accused in February of pushing Hyre so hard it left a hole in the wall. The case was dismissed with a requirement that Foster remain out of trouble. Five months later, Foster is now facing multiple felonies in connection to the mauling death of his youngest son. The rottweiler attacked the baby’s head, neck and shoulder at about 10:45 pm Tuesday. An ambulance rushed Ryan to an area hospital, where he later died.
08/11/21: Rottweiler Kills Baby
Brooklyn, NY - Charges are pending after a 19-month old boy was mauled to death by a family rottweiler. The attack occurred late Tuesday night at a home in Flatbush. The child’s father left the baby at the home with his two brothers, ages 9 and 11, when he went to work Tuesday evening. Police were dispatched to the family’s ground floor apartment in the 300 block of East 17th Street about 10:45 pm after the family’s rottweiler attacked the baby’s head, neck and shoulder.
“When the officers arrived here, they went to an apartment on the first floor. They encountered a child with multiple wounds to his body, bleeding heavily,” - Assistant Chief Michael Kemper, the commanding officer of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South
According to police, the older brothers fled the home after the attack to flag down a passerby. Officers arrived to find the baby “bleeding heavily” in the lobby of the building with his brothers. The baby was rushed to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead just before 11:30 pm. Police said the 11-year old sibling was previously bitten by the dog, named “Buster,” in the past and was afraid of the dog. The father was taken into custody and charges are anticipated.
The two older brothers were able to lock Buster in the bathroom before police arrived. NYPD Emergency Services officers tranquilized the dog, which was then taken into custody by Animal Care Centers of NYC. The Daily News reports the father, who has visitation rights with the children, was taken into custody when he and the child’s mother showed up at the hospital. Regarding the previous bite, it was never reported to authorities and police are investigating.
CBS New York footage shows the two brothers running outside as a crowd of adults come to their aid. Police quickly appear and carry the injured boy to an ambulance. One neighbor commented, “Baby not supposed to be home by itself. I know it’s hard times, it’s pandemic times. We try to make ends meet.” CBS also reported that the father, who has not yet been identified by police, has one other unrelated assault charge and now could face a charge of child endangerment.
WABC reports in a Wednesday update that the apartment and the rottweiler belong to the children’s grandparents, who are currently out of the country. The grandparents are also the superintendents of the apartment building on East 17th Street where the attack occurred, and they reportedly had the dog for “security” because they have been burglarized in the past. Back in May, 4-year old Elliot Sherwin was fatally attacked by his grandparents two rottweilers in Montana.
Child's Father Charged
By late Wednesday, both WABC and WPIX reported that the boy's father, Vernon Foster, was arrested on charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and acting in a manner injurious to a child. "Detectives from the 70th Precinct and Brooklyn South Homicide Squad are fully engaged in the investigation," Kemper said earlier. "It's very active right now, pending a search warrant for the apartment" and we are working with the DA's Office in relation to charges.
Entrance to the building where a family rottweiler killed a baby boy in Brooklyn Tuesday night.
Photographs showing NYPD officers at the scene after a family rottweiler killed a baby boy.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: U.S. Fatal Rottweiler Attacks By StateRelated articles:
08/11/21: Fatal Rottweiler Attacks - The Archival Record - DogsBite.org
05/28/21: 2021 Dog Bite Fatality: Boy, 4, Killed by His Grandparents Two Rottweilers in Montana
05/26/21: 2021 Dog Bite Fatality: Pair of Family Rottweilers Kill Baby in North Carolina
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
The 11 year old was afraid of the dangerous breed canine, but of course, that meant nothing. Anyone who is afraid of dogs receives one and only one instruction set from almost all of society: “Don’t be afraid of dogs, because your fear is unreasonable”. The only thing that is surprising about this textbook incident is that this type of incident does not occur much more frequently. Somewhere out there, under American skies, there are the next few or more million Americans who will, in the next twelve months, be the perfect victims of the Almighty Dog that demands its chunk of perfect victim human flesh and blood. Too bad that each and every one of those few million future annual victims are not configured to be not-so-perfect victims. The blanket of denial that comforts most all members of our society is too comforting to be stripped away by acknowledging factual statistics of this extremely under-reported public health crisis.
Leaving 3 children (including a baby) home alone was bad enough, but leaving them there with a dangerous and known aggressive dog was pure child endangerment. Maybe, just maybe, if there was no dangerous dog in the home, these three children would have been relatively fine. But no, this insane father thought it was okay to leave a huge, powerful dog which had previously bitten alone with 3 kids. What is this world?!
The sad thing is if an adult had been home this would have been called a “tragic accident”. Odds are an adult could not have stopped the attack.
Senior citizens who get powerful dogs are possibly somewhere on the cognitive decline. Seniors living in a little apartment who get a large powerful dog are definitely not functioning well in executive function. That being said, there is a lot of blame to go around to both the father as if the grandparents. I suspect the father is down on his luck I needed to move in with them. The grandparents likely took this as an opportunity to go on a trip out of the country and use their son is a dog sitter in exchange for how they have been helping his family out. The father needs to work to provide for his kids and to save up to get them their own home. I hope the grandparents get charged upon return.
“Baby’s not supposed to be home by itself”
Of course, if this moron hadn’t chosen to keep a vicious dog around his three kids the baby likely would have been just fine. I hope he gets jail time. The two other kids sound like they’d be better off with relatives.
I understand, even if it’s not a preference, why parents desperately needing money in the house, might leave a baby alone with their siblings.
What I fail to understand, is leaving a rottweiler *who already bit the baby once* alone with these kids. They have too much responsibility as is, trying to care for a baby.
I don’t know their living situation, but if the grandparents had their own space, why not leave the Rottie at their house then walk it 3x per day and feed it? These were all common scenarios when I was growing up.
If not that, if the grandparents lived on site, but can afford a Rottweiler and a vacay, can’t they afford a crate so Dad/Mom are the ones dealing with the dog?
Now there’s a dead baby in a clearly preventable scenario.
I really can’t believe how a father could be so foolish! Could he not at least have locked the dog in a room away from the children?? A dog should never have free access to a baby, especially a rotweiller or other dangerous dog. And this dog had bitten before and they KNEW it! What is going on in people’s minds?
I also blame the “nanny dog” lie that puts people in the mindset that they can leave their children alone with a large powerful dog and it’ll all be peaches and daisies. This is so dangerous.
I’m glad you brought up the Carl books. These have been out for a few decades now and are considered by some to be classics of kid’s lit. It’s hard to tell how many classrooms, schools, and libraries the Carl books are in. The basic theme is always one, or sometimes multiple, large Rottweilers babysitting small children.
So true. My daughter received a Carl book when she was young. At first I thought it was a joke, then decided it was an attempt to whitewash the breed. Crazy.
So sad for the oldest boy who was left in charge. At least he had the presence of mind to lock himself and his brother away from the dog. Two wounded children. RIP baby brother.
The state of PA is breeding a Rottweiler and Doberman mix. The dog I am referring to looked like a Rottweiler but was of this mixed breed.
I witnessed this dog kill a deer in the state of New Jersey. The dog chased down the deer, proceeded to bite the deer on the rump, and then went directly for the neck of the deer. The dog quickly killed the deer and I assure you no one taught this dog to hunt.
The dog was put down. Thankfully, the dog was put down before he killed a person or very seriously injured a person.
The aggressive behavior is in the genes. Aggressive breeds were originally bred for specific tasks (hunt, kill, protect).
Shame on anyone who allows these dogs to run wild in their neighborhood. Quality of life is not improved by having these type of dogs. Owners are playing Russian Roulette with their loved ones and neighbors and it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.