A toddler is dead after being attacked by a family pit bull in Granite Bay, California.
Dog's Instagram Page
UPDATE 09/24/19: We located the 6-year old female pit bull that belongs to the baby's parents. The parents created an Instagram page for "Bella" back in July of 2015. Additional social media pages of the parents show the same dog as a young puppy on October 16, 2013. The parents had raised this pit bull from a puppy. The Instagram page shows just how much they adored this dog. On September 20, while a female relative was watching the baby, Bella fatally attacked the boy.
We re-watched the September 20 press conference of Lt. Andrew Scott to resolve conflicting reports of whether the child had ever had contact with the dog before. "The baby was 13-months old," Scott states. "A relatively new addition to the household. Sometimes when you have a new child come into the household with an existing family pet there can be issues. Not this severe, typically. It's just another thing to keep an eye on if you have a newborn in the house," Scott said.
13-months is barely "relatively new" and 13-months is not a "newborn." A newborn is a literal term (newly born) and is 0 to 2 months in age.
Sometimes in breaking news, wires get crossed. During the Fox 40 segment, where the "not had contact before" information originated, Lt. Andrew Scott is interviewed, but Scott does not state on camera that the toddler had never before had contact with the dog. The Instagram page of the baby's father shows the toddler had spent time with the dog, using hashtags #bellablue #thekiddos and #sundayfunday on an October 2018 photograph showing the pit bull and baby boy together.
In summary, the social media pages of the child's parents show the couple owned a 6-year old female pit bull that they doted on so much, they created the dog an Instagram page. The last photograph of Bella was posted on May 11, 2018. The child was born in early August 2018. The parents had raised this pit bull from a puppy. At the time of the attack, a female relative was babysitting and was in "very close proximity" with the child when the family pit bull attacked.
Images of the 6-year old female pit bull "Bella" located on the parent's Instagram pages.
09/20/19: Family Pit Bull Kills Baby
Granite Bay, CA - A baby boy is dead after being attacked by a family pit bull, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office. Deputies responded to a home in Granite Bay just after 3:00 pm Friday after a report of a dog mauling a 13-month old baby. The child was at home with a family member when the dog attacked. The person was able to free the baby from the dog and called 911. The child was transported to Roseville Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Placer County Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Scott said the family member was not the boy's parent. The deadly attack happened in the living room of the home and was unprovoked, according to the sheriff’s department. No signs of negligence were apparent. The dog is described as a 9-year old family pit bull. Placer County Animal Control confiscated the dog and placed it into quarantine. Detectives from the Crimes Against Persons (CAP) Unit are investigating the baby's death.
"The adult was with the baby when the attack occurred and didn't appear to hint at anything that the attack was coming." - Sheriff's Lt. Andrew Scott
Fox 40 News spoke to Lt. Scott, who said the child and the dog had not had contact before Friday -- which suggests the dog was visiting the child's home and the dog's owner, a relative, was babysitting the baby at the time. Fox 40 also described the pit bull as being only 6-years old. "This family has been completely devastated by what occurred," Lt. Scott said. "It's a very emotional situation at this time." The attack occurred in a home on Olive Ranch Road in Granite Bay.
CBS Sacramento, who went to the Granite Bay neighborhood last night, reports the 6-year old pit bull was a female. They interviewed a neighbor, Gavin Smith, who indicated the relative watching the toddler was a female. “My mom heard from somebody that there was blood on the lady’s face or on the kid’s face,” Smith said. Smith is also the owner of two large pit bulls. Smith can't figure out "how" this happened. This baby boy marks the 233rd child killed by a pit bull since 1980.
The last recorded fatal dog mauling in Placer County occurred in 2007, when 61-year old Cora Lee Suehead was brutally killed by four pit bulls belonging to a relative near her home. More recently, in 2016, in the neighboring county of Yuba, three pit bulls living in a dilapidated trailer belonging to Alexandria Griffin-Heady killed her 9-year old half-brother, Tyler Trammell-Huston, while he was on an unsupervised visit. The Yuba County DA declined to bring criminal charges.
Lt. Andrew Scott gives a press conference following the fatal pit bull attack in Granite Bay.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: California Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
03/25/16: 2016 Dog Bite Fatality: Boy Killed by His Sister's Three Pit Bulls in Yuba County
05/12/10: 1909 Dog Bite Fatality: John P. Colby's Fighting Pit Bull Kills Nephew
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.
Another precious life cut short because another family chose to play pit roulette. Every pit owner has the same mental defect- they ALL think THEIR dog is different, THEIR dog would never. Most will be wrong to varying degrees. The only solution is ban these dogs or S/N them into extinction.
I agree with you 100%! It makes me sick how this officer down plays the whole thing saying don’t demonize the breed. Tha pissed me off! A baby has just died due to one of these monsters and that is what he says about it. He obviously doesn’t know the statistics when it comes to pit bulls,or he just don’t care. Imo people who adopt pit bulls when they have children in their homes clearly do not care about their children or they wouldn’t get such an unpredictable creature and play the roulette with their kids lives,and in nearly every case it is the innocent child that ends up paying the ultimate price for their parents horrible choice in choosing a family pet. There are so many wonderful breeds out there that would not kill a child,idk what the big fascination is about these horrific creatures? It seems to be a cult like mentality with these people. Until people start to open their eyes and see the real problem with pit bulls, then these attacks will keep happening day after day. These dogs were bred to be fighting animals/blood sport dogs. No person can love,train,or raise the genetics out of these mutants,when they snap there is no stopping them cause that is what they were bred to do! I hope that officer reads what i wrote so he can understand that it is indeed the breed,and no matter how well it is treated and raised it will eventually do what is was bred to do and what is within their genetics to do,Maim and Kill! This tragedy was so preventable and it angers me so much that precious baby had to die just cause his parents wanted that murder dog. 🙁 I hope that thing gets a one way ticket to He{{!
Please everybody leave a critical review of the book “Pitbull, The Battle over an American Icon” by Bronwen Dickey on Amazon. The book is a complete whitewash, with a gushing portrayal of the wacky Jane Berkey. She has blood on her hands. More every day.
Another small child ripped apart by the “family” pit bull. When will people ever learn?
Sadly there are to many people in this world who care more about these horrible creatures than they do of innocent little children,and so long as we have those kind of people this will continue to happen.Not very many people want to believe that there is a massive epidemic of pit bull attacks and killings, They would prefer to believe what pit propagandist and apologist say,instead of seeking the truth.If it were the people who are adopting these wretched things getting murdered by their pibbles i wouldn’t be so upset because it was their own stupidity for believing these things are so great,but it is most always the innocent that suffer their horrible choice in choosing a breed to adopt,and that is not fair to those who do not like the breed,or even want to be around the breed,yet we are being forced to live amongst these monsters that attack us while we are walking,sitting in our own yards, children riding their bikes,or walking to and from school,and in some cases even attacked in their very own homes! Why should the public have to suffer for others choices? Public safety is number one,and i think the breed should be banned!
I recently visited my 89 year old mother-in-law and she was babysitting for her granddaughter’s massive pit bull (she has 2 children under 10 at home). I was not comfortable being around this animal and how irresponsible for the granddaughter to leave it with an 89 year old frail woman. I Han another acquaintance who did that and her grandma was mauled and nearly died from her wounds. Seriously we do need to ban these animals, they’re killers
“233rd child killed by a pit bull since 1980”
That’s 40 years — an average of about 6 children every year. If the pit bull were a manufactured product, it would have been recalled and banned from the market years ago.
But of course a dog is not a purely manufactured product; it’s a living animal that human beings can fall in love with. Human beings have to start looking at the criteria by which they judge their interactions with and emotions toward animals if this kind of disregard for the health and safety of others is ever going to be overcome.
I’m not sure how that reevaluation is going to be achieved. But certainly education has to be the first step — and to that end Dogsbite is to be lauded for the intrepid work they do.
To put the criteria issue more starkly: Are “cute,” “lovable,” “affectionate,” and “loyal” at all relevant in the context of an unpredictable, brutally strong animal that can cause serious injury and death within seconds?
The other thing is, the risk is much higher than just 1 in 6 children killed per year by pit bulls. Pit Bull ownership in the 80’s was pretty low, hence lower death rates, where as now when pit bull ownership has bee exponentially growing, the death rates are also exponentially growing each year.
7 comments so far on the story at the CBS local (Sacramento) link, and the first 6 are realists about the nature and behavior of pits. GOOD. Sometimes it seems truth-telling is about the only positive thing that can come out of horrific incidents like this.
Lt. Andrew Scott needs to grow a pair. First, he does the “any dog” bit paired with “children should be supervised around dogs.” Well, Lt. Andrew Scott, I thought the report was that the family member was present? Doesn’t want to demonize the breed? Whatever.
Just being present in the same room isn’t the same as active supervision though. Sitting in the same room as the dog and the child but not actively paying attention to the dog’s body language and what the child is doing can lead to a bite in any dog (just that when it’s a fighting breed the bite is usually more severe).
Eg. if the kid smacks the dog in the face or yanks it’s ears any dog might bite. Especially if this is normal behaviour of the baby towards the dog (over time this gets extremely aggravating to the dog). Most well socialized family dogs will have good bite inhibition and the bite probably won’t leave a mark – but that’s no excuse to just leave baby and dog to it.
Interactions should be directed and supervised by a human adult so that both baby and dog are happy and comfortable in the other’s presence. Dog shouldn’t be used as a babysitter or a kid’s play toy.
Unfortunately I see that it is all too common for pit owners especially to use their dogs to entertain their children, the nanny dog myth might be responsible for a lot of these attacks on children.
People are in deep denial that fighting breeds (and some other breeds) are dangerous animals. Today, I saw a toddler sitting on his property with four (4) working breed mixes interacting normally. Why do people take that risk, when dealing with sometimes unpredictable animals? Domesticated dogs are officially not wild animals, they are officially domesticated animals. Officially. Not good enough in the real world.
The neighbor, Gavin Smith, can’t figure out “how” this happened? This is called pit bull Nutter DENIAL.
Pit bulls bred for centuries of blood sport. They are genetically dangerous. Regardless of age or “how they were raised”.
(Psst… Gavin, this is your wake-up call… ditch the pits.)
“Usually it’s not really the dog that’s the problem, it’s the people who raise the dog,” he said.
“You go and train a dog to be aggressive, it’s going to be aggressive. If you don’t be aggressive with the dog it’s going to be fine.”
Says the typical, deluded, ignorant, bullshit spewing propagandist. So, it took this “family dog” 8 years to finally take all that “aggression training” to heart and finally kill someone, huh? Pretty standard pitard comments. “It’s all in how you raise them”. So I guess ANOTHER person raised their pit bull to kill ANOTHER innocent baby, right? That must be pretty common for pit bull owners.
There are two types of pit bull owners – ones that raise their dogs to kill and maim innocent people, and ones that accuse others of doing so. There’s no in between. There’s no admitting the truth about genetics. It’s always the owner. And another person dies an agonizing death.
Maybe, just maybe, one deluded pit bull owner will realize their baby or loved one is more important than the myth BEFORE the baby or loved one is on a coroner’s table.
I won’t hold my breath, because people like Gavin “It’s All How You Raise ‘Em” Smith keep on drinking the Kool-Aid. His sweet “timid” pibbles would never hurt anyone. He can’t believe his neighbors two doors over, who own the baby killing pit bull, probably thought THE EXACT SAME THING.
Rest in peace, little angel. I pray you never felt a thing.
Correction: 6 years to finally take it “aggression training” to heart.
Amen to that! Well said!
Yes, yes, and yes.
I’ve considered trying to train my GSD to kill babies. He keeps refusing! The problem is, no one will give me a “bait baby” to use. It sucks, because I think there are a lot of baby-baiting prizes to be won, if we can just crack the trick there.
I guess many of these pit bulls are just smarter than my housebroken-in-a-week, can-open-doors, learns-new-commands-in-<5 repetitions GSD, huh? They kill that baby first try, whereas I begin to despair that I will ever teach my boy to do it.
My dog even refuses to act on commands sometimes when he doesn't feel like it, but he just isn't as loyal and brave as those pits who willingly kill members of their own families, huh?
(Sorry, I know this is horrible; I was simply hoping to shine a light on how stupid "you have to train them to be aggressive" is in light of a dog slaughtering a toddler.)
I will believe that they believe it is “all how you raise them” when they start arresting people for training their pit to kill. Until that happens I suspect on some level they know they are lying.
Exactly. If they truly believed it was “all how you raise them,” they would have no problem with actually blaming the owner and sending said owners to jail for a long time.
But no pit owner will support that, because deep down they know the truth about the breed…they just think theirs is “different.” (Or they secretly like the idea of their dog ripping other animals or a human apart, and just think it won’t happen to them.)
It’s almost absurd when they talk about how all dogs are the same. Seriously
It’s like some Evil Agenda to keep these Monsters in our neighborhoods so they can terrorize the community.
Anyone with a brain knows these dogs are dangerous.the fact that they become unstoppable and attack out of the blue is what makes them even more dangerous.
Why do you think they don’t use greyhounds or Goldens for dogfighting……..
These dogs were specifically breed to KILL .
It’s mind boggling that people still insist these dogs are safe around children.
Unreal.
Another dead baby and more “it’s all in how you raise them.”
Then charge the parents with infanticide and serial murder because they surely must have raised the dog by waving babies in front of it for six years while clicking their clickers and treat-rewarding every time it ate a baby. Please dig up their backyard for bodies.
Seriously, these people are nuts. Where’s the logic?
“It’s the baby’s fault for poking it in the nose” or some such. As if every dog on the planet hasn’t been annoyed a few times in its life and managed to walk away.
Every excuse, zero responsibility.
Agree. Have two old cats and an old dog (Frenchie). My husband and I have had the cats for 14 years and the dog for 8 years. The animals are older than my kids. We started having kids 6 years ago, so none of my animals were raised with children. My kids have gotten rough with the animals at times (which we immediately put a stop to and disciplined them for). Not once have my animals have ever had an aggressive response whatsoever. They either lay there and take it, or run away. I repeat, not an ounce of aggression or a single bite, scratch, hiss, growl, or soft mouthing. Nothing. But then again, I don’t own 2 lions and a pitbull. Aggression was not bred into my dog.
Victim blaming. As if a 13 month old had the common sense or life experience to know not to pull the dog’s ear, tail, smack its nose, etc. I’m not saying that’s proper treatment of an animal, but if it even did happen (many of these attacks are completely unprovoked) the normal response for a dog should not be to immediately attack and not stop until the baby is lifeless. Unfortunately, that behavior is actually bred into pitbulls. It’s what they’re supposed to do.
Exactly. What these people don’t seem to see is that a normal dog, when annoyed to the breaking point by a poking, prodding, yanking toddler, will snap the air. At *most* it will nip a hand. Not a great reaction, of course, but hardly a deadly one. Many of us have known–or have even been–the kid who got too pushy with a dog and ended up with a little scrape or tooth-mark because of it. I’m not saying it’s okay for a dog to do this, but again, it happens.
The idea that DEATH is an appropriate “punishment” for a human child who pulls a tail or ear is just so far beyond the pale of rational human thought that I don’t know how these people manage to say that kind of thing with a straight face. We specifically spent thousands of years domesticating dogs so that that they would NOT kill us for a single wrong step, so that they would not even bite us, usually, for just being annoying. And now suddenly thanks to the pit lobby, we’re having a harder and harder time being able to trust Man’s Best Friend, because not only are our neighborhoods overrun with literal maulers, but people are taking mauler behavior as normal dog behavior and accepting dogs who bite as “just doing what dogs do.”
Excellent point, Boni. If it really was about how they are raised, then why is no one held accountable for raising a killer dog? And where are the killer beagles that were raised badly? The killer corgis? The killer (insert any of hundreds of breeds here) ______?
And also, if they really believe the “how you raise them” line, then how could any conscientious person ever endorse the adoptions of dogs with an unknown history? I suppose in that case, the “thankfulness” of the dog upon its “rescue” must override the potentially bad way in which it was possibly raised, leading to a safe family pet. It all sounds ridiculous to reasonable ears, but is too logical for those defending this breed. They are either blinded by their zeal, or worse yet… they actually know the risks yet think a dead human every now and then is worth it to save their precious pit bulls.
It would be interesting to see how that photo of the poor deceased baby next to his family’s pit bull would be taken out of the context of knowing what eventually happened. I’m sure it would receive accolades by the pit defenders and be used to provide further “evidence” for the nanny dog myth. I really think the hashtag “#thekiddos” with the photo speaks volumes. These people equate their dogs not only with their own children, but often equate or elevate their dogs above every human.
It would also be interesting to see if any of the ones following the dog’s Instagram page will now come forward and share that they sensed all along that Bella was being groomed to murder that baby. Perhaps they can provide testimony in how the owners were raising her incorrectly for all these years, leading to this death. Because of course in their minds, it’s all in how you raise them. Right?
It’s the sheer lunacy and doublethink that galls me.
“It’s how you train them” (you trained them to eat Grandmas and babies? Can you teach my husky to eat people whose car horns go off at 4am?)
“It’s the victim’s fault” (aaaand dog owners out there, how many times have you stepped on a paw or tail. No wait, you’re all in graveyards so you can’t answer that)
“Rescue the poor pibble” (but if it’s all in the training/raising and it was likely dumped for crappy behaviour, why would I rescue one?”
“The dog was abused” (why would I pay a rescue for it, then? It’s a murder machine in waiting.)
It’s like the logic of dog ownership is gone. Responsibility is teaching a dog how to live in a human world so we all can enjoy the relationship.
Having a relationship with a pitbull is like taking home a member of Hell’s Angels and *hoping* nothing bad, happens then blaming your sister if he murders her.
“…aaaand dog owners out there, how many times have you stepped on a paw or tail. No wait, you’re all in graveyards so you can’t answer that.”
I’ve stepped on our GSD’s paws twice in the last week (he has a habit of sprawling on the kitchen floor while I’m cooking). Both times he just looked at me with mild interest.
Our other dog is a lab mix (NO pit, mostly just lab with a little GSD in there). She’s a big girl. She’s a big girl who’s had a yeast infection in her ears for some time. The vet gave us a liquid to clean and flood her ears with; she hates this process. HATES it. To the point that we had to stop because she literally would not be held down by the combined efforts of my 6’3 220 lb. husband and 5’10 185 lb father. She struggled and wriggled and shoved them off of her.
What she did NOT do was snap or bite. She didn’t even appear to *think* of doing so. She just struggled to get away and then ran and hid. And that was when we were messing with her poor sore itchy ears and pouring cold liquid down them.
I finally thought of treating the ear infection with a regular yeast infection cream for women, $5 for a seven-day treatment. We’re on week two now and it is making a HUGE difference–we can actually see healthy pink skin for the first time in a while! She’s not a fan of that process, either–she loves having the cream rubbed in, but hates having it actually squeezed into the ear–but she sits there and lets me do it. Again, not even a cross look from her, not even the faintest growl, much less a snap or actual bite.
Makes perfect sense to me. (BTW you might want to teach the “move” command to your clever, easy going dog)|
Anion, off topic but relevant to your comment.
Whenever you need dog meds, ask your vet what OTC meds you can use. An honest vet will tell you. For a yeast infection, canestan should work. For infections of other sorts, you can always try polysporin for eyes/skin.
That too, is part of the Dogs Rule People are Fools, dogma that’s so prevalent, these days. Dogs are Big Money.
All of this Pibble and atrocious dog behaviour/rescue nonsense are million dollar *industries*. Rescues are charging $400 and up a pop–a couple hundred more will buy a puppy mill dog. What happened to poor families grabbing up an abandoned mutt puppy for the cost of a roast beef dinner, to play with the kids? Those days are gone.
None of this dog lunacy is about dogs. It’s about dollars. Lying to vulnerable humans that a dog is more important than humans is a great selling point.
Except for the human victims. They’re not spending thousands of dollars on pet toys and costumes. So clearly, they don’t count in the equation {dripping sarcasm intended}
They are banning vaping,they are banning Zantac and other meds,baby furniture,airbags,all kinds of things being banned,recalled. Why in the world can’t they ban pit bulls,that are maiming and killing humans constantly? Just does not make sense.
Exactly. Just think, if these things were wild bears running around killing people, what a big deal everyone would make of the situation.
Because they are dogs. And you know what they say, D-O-G is G-O-D spelled backwards.
If that isn’t dog worship, I don’t know what is.
Sharon there are BSL laws in some places.
Then it gets into enforcement which is a whole other can of worms as numerous articles point out on this website.
While those are both pro-active stances, I think the third is *education*.
Dogs aren’t people. People bred dogs and some of those dogs shouldn’t have been bred or are unsuited for their present purpose.
This includes pitbulls who were not bred to live in communities. It includes bulldogs and pugs who are so wheezy, they can’t run around without heaving for air and who have myriad expensive health problems. It includes the breeding of dogs for looks, instead of healthy and suited to purpose–which in most cases nowadays, is companionship.
The #1 problem with the Pit Nutters is that they refuse to tell the truth. Pitbulls have been bred for a couple of centuries, not to be pets–but to fight. Their brains are *wired* for it, because humans bred them to be that way.
Real dog people, who truly love dogs, see all these problems.
But we have people haters and irresponsible rescues and breeders trying to palm off crappy dogs as being what dogs are, making excuses for their crappy behaviour (poor dog was abused so they can let it act like an azzhat in public instead of committing to fix the behaviours) etc. etc.
Having a dog is having a long-term relationship. And who wants a relationship with someone whose family has a history of eating babies? Or a relationship with someone who is genuinely unsuited to their lifestyle but are wowed by their good looks or “cuteness”?
It’s not the dogs that are fecked in the head, it’s the *people* who have zero idea of what a healthy relationship with a dog, looks like. Too many people think their dogs are fashion accessories. And that’s what pitbulls have become.
That is a great comment. I have waited (in vain) for the ‘real’ dog community to step up and start telling truths about pit bulldogs and to try and get rid of the pit millstone around their necks….back in the 90’s, when pits first started to become a thing, it was plausible that Dobermans and Great Danes and German Shepherds would all be banned along with pit bulls. Other than a few exceptions, this has not happened. Dog people in the fancy generally don’t see the dregs of dogdom and still seem to believe all the stupid myths. I wonder if dog trainers are starting to see the light?
Referring to pits as a fashion accessory is exactly right. And such a versatile one! They can either tell the world that you are a gangster, a pibble fur mom, a “dont’ breed until the shelters are empty” rescue zealot, a biker, a homeless person who wants a throwaway dog to match their throwaway life… the list goes on.
My thoughts are with the family that bought into the whole pitbulls are great pets, rhetoric. I am not sure how to reach people BEFORE a devistating attack directly affects them. My prayers are with the delusional neighbors still in denial.
I have been a constant reader of this site for years. I’d like to thank Colleen and all the contributors to the comment section, I really enjoy this site. It’s just a terrible shame that it even has to exist though. I’m in Australia and the APBT is banned here, but we still have American bulldogs and American Staffordshires, which look very much the same…heavy-jawed, muscular breed. We have had 4 deaths this year by dog maulings, usually we have 1 – 2 canine homicides per year. 3 died from AmStaff attacks and the 4th was an AmStaff cross