Brayden Heery, 2-weeks old, died after being "bit by a dog" and "head injury" in Milford.
Cause of Death Released
UPDATE 02/29/24: The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the infant died of blunt impact injury to his head, reports Milford Mirror. The manner of death was accidental. The Mirror also confirms our earlier reporting of data obtained from the audio dispatch log files of the Milford Fire Department. Firefighters responded to the home after a 911 call reported a dog had bitten an infant. They found the incident "as initially reported." The infant was taken to a hospital, but did not survive.
One week after the fatal mauling, the infant's uncle, Kevin Morse, who co-founded On Scene Media New Haven County, a Facebook-based media outfit that posts footage and livestreams of crimes and accidents, spoke to News 12, but would not share the circumstances of the attack. He stated the incident was not "an attack" by the dog but rather "a tragic accident." However, a bite to an infant's head and death by "blunt impact injury to the head," is typically caused by an aggressive dog bite.
Husky Confirmation
In March, the Stamford Advocate reported on a meeting held by the Connecticut Child Fatality Review Panel (CFRP). Data regarding dog attack fatalities of children was presented by Brendan Burke, state assistant child advocate, and the principal investigator on any in-depth child fatality investigation requested by the CFRP. Burke confirmed that Brayden Burwell was killed by a pet husky. "Burwell Heery died of an injury to the head after he was bitten by the family dog, a Husky, according to Burke."
02/24/24: Infant Died Last Friday
Milford, CT - A newborn died after being bitten by a family dog, suffering a head injury. Despite the infant's family not releasing details of what happened, the family states it was "not an attack" by the dog but rather a "tragic accident." Brayden Burwell, 2-weeks old, died on February 16. A local media outlet first reported the newborn's death on February 23. A GoFundMe organized for the infant's mother has raised over $17,000. The dog has since been euthanized, according to family members.
According to the mother's Facebook page, the family dog is "Dakota," a male husky. They obtained the dog when it was a puppy. "And just like that we have a new puppy, a 4 month old purebred Siberian husky," she posted on February 9, 2019. The other dog on her page, "Tucker," crossed the rainbow bridge in 2021. "To have to say goodbye for good to our furbaby was one of the hardest things I've had to do," she posted on March 23, 2021. "Can't wait to build an even closer bond with Dakota."
According to the audio dispatch log files for the Milford Fire Department on Broadcastify.com, responders were dispatched to a home in the 100 block of Gresham Street at approximately 5:15 pm. "Medic 3, we're diverting you to a different call ... [redacted] Gresham, two week old bit by a dog unsure if the child's conscious," states the dispatcher. "Two week old. Bit by a dog. Head injury," she states a minute later. A responder then asks the dispatcher to "put a call into animal control please."
The loss of an infant's life is a "tragic accident." Brayden's death is also a fatal dog mauling. The husky pattern of biting a newborn on the head, often a sleeping newborn, has been documented for many years. Recent attacks include the death of a 4-day old infant in Cave Springs, Arkansas, where "the husky's tooth penetrated the baby's head." In 2019, a 2-year old pet husky "bit a 22-day old baby on the head an undetermined number of times, killing the infant," our nonprofit wrote at that time.
Breed-Specific Traits
In our multi-year report of dog bite fatalities published in May 2018 -- U.S. Dog Bite Fatalities: Breeds of Dogs Involved, Age Groups and Other Factors Over a 13-Year Period (2005 to 2017) -- we pointed out a breed-specific trait pertaining to huskies. "Of the 13 fatal attacks inflicted by huskies, 62% (8 of 13) were infants ≤11 months old and 92% (12) were ages ≤5 years old. The single adult death, a 22-year old female victim, was a multi-breed attack involving a female husky and a male pit bull."
Our research finding was also footnoted with the following: "In comparison with the other top-six killing dog breeds, only 15% (3 of 20) of German shepherd victims were infants ≤11 months old, 13% (6 of 45) of rottweiler victims, 10% (28 of 284) of pit bull victims, 7% (1 of 15) of American bulldog victims, 0% of mixed-breed victims, and 0% of mastiff/bullmastiff victims were infants." Often in the cases of husky-inflicted infant deaths, the baby is sleeping when the dog bites or punctures the infant's head.
Are There New Findings?
Due to the Covid macro-level forces that have impacted our ability to track fatal dog maulings, we divided our tracking into two databases, pre-Covid (2005 to 2019) and post-Covid (2020 to present). For the purpose of reviewing husky fatalities, we joined the husky cases from both. Little has changed since our analysis in 2018. Despite huskies being infrequently involved in fatal dog maulings in the U.S., they are still among the top killing dog breeds, and they still disproportionately attack infants.
From 2005 to present day, we've recorded approximately 745 dog bite fatalities. Huskies have been involved in 17 of these deaths. Of these victims, 65% (11 of 17) were infants ≤11 months old and 88% (15) were ages ≤5 years old. In the two adult deaths, 22-year old Rebecca Hardy was killed in a multi-breed attack involving a female husky and a male pit bull, and 84-year old Loretta Moore was killed in a multi-breed pack attack involving two huskies, one pit bull and two dogs of unknown breeds.
The two most recent wolf-dog hybrid attacks also involved biting an infant or newborn on the head. Last year, Leo Caddle, 3-months old, died after "being carried around in a dog's mouth." The Shelby County Coroner said the parents tried to get the baby away from the wolfdog, but it was too late. In 2018, Aurora Little, 8-days old, was killed by her family's wolf-dog hybrid while lying in a bassinet. She suffered "very serious injuries to the upper body and the head," Sheriff Gary Parsons said.
Of the 11 husky-inflicted infant deaths, 9 have information about the victim's surroundings. 7 deaths, 78%, involved the infant lying in a bassinet, baby carrier, crib or inside a playpen at the time. 2 deaths, 22%, involved the baby "resting in a bedroom." In one of those deaths, Olivia Rozek was lying on a bed in a bedroom next to her twin sister when the pet husky pulled her from the bed and mauled her. Rozek suffered puncture wounds to her head as well as crushing injuries from the dog's jaws.
In the death of Brayden, the circumstances are unknown, except that Fire and EMS responded to a "Two week old. Bit by a dog. Head injury." The idea of a husky being involved in an "tragic accident" with an infant, killing the infant, without intentional teeth contact sounds as likely as this 1978 husky-inflicted infant death. The director of an animal hospital speculated back then, the husky "may have accidentally knocked over the crib and attacked the infant when the falling crib surprised her."
Related articles:
12/21/22: 2022 Dog Bite Fatality: Newborn, 4-Days Old, Killed by Pet Husky in Arkansas
07/09/19: 2019 Dog Bite Fatality: Sleeping Infant Killed by Family Husky in Hall County, Georgia
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.
Complete silence from other CT. news sources such as WTNH or WFSB
Too busy glossing over the latest restaurant opening, or boasting of a poll naming New Haven pizzerias as the best in all of recorded world history.
Because Kevin knows them all. They kept it quiet for him. Stuff like this makes national news and it didn’t even make the local news stations. You know, all those people that tell OSM to get stuff off his page and he says no. But when its his own family then it’s a different story. That’s not right. He lied right on that video and said it wasn’t an attack. The dog bit the baby and the baby died. That’s an attack! Also how many times have people been arrested when their dog kills someone? This dog killed a baby and nobody was arrested. But they’re calling this one a tragic accident. Please! It’s because he knows a lot of people in law enforcement.
A one year old being reported now killed by dog in East Hartford, CT.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02aUxWbXDhLzy5YFqUV9S8zu11ZtW1Y6kXdywVVu3L4XkgxQhgK4aCTvUsoMtJmguvl&id=100006837647477
This is not a safe environment for a newborn! To me looks more like a small crowded stall with large animals. There is no safe corner for the cradle or baby seat.
Husky is a working dog for cold climate, not for a living room.
My friend’s son has an Akita Inu dog. He is so large in their home, that I was afraid to visit them. Big yellow smiling wolf is walking around, knocking on floor by his nails . He is a size of their sofa and so jealous that he is not allowing us to talk. He is howling so loud that makes you uncomfortable, and disables us to talk. He must be in the center of our attention and he needs to play ,violently , even if you do not want to pull a slipper from his jaws.
This dog was a present of his girlfriend ( she has a mother dog) And they are living together now, in other city , in a small apartment.. Soon to be married and have children. I do not know – and I am afraid to think how that future will look like when the baby comes.
Of course -they – all of them – my friend and her son, absolutely refuse to listen to my warnings about the incompatibility of the dog and a babies.
The proof was presented to me, recently : a video of akita and a kiddy -playing … “so meltingly sweet ” but .. NOT TO ME !
Sometimes, just sometimes there could be blood in a split second …and no one will know why …or maybe they were deliberately deaf …like in this tragedy .
Two weeks of life in a wrong home!
An akita is a Japanese fighting dog whereas huskies, are not.
That aside Matrona, I’d be freaked out, too. If they can’t control the dog’s behaviour now, how much worse will this get when their attention is diverted to a child?
That dog sounds like an utter brat that they have zero control over.
A fighting dog with no brakes. Keep telling them you’re worried because there’s too big a risk this won’t end well. If it does, it’s pure luck.
Your description of that dog reminds me of Ann Hornish’s Dexter.
Hopefully your friend’s son’s story has a better ending.
Matrona, your warnings are valuable. You may think they’re not listening, but if one of the parents comes to their senses after the baby is born and recognizes the danger, they will remember what you said and feel supported in a decision to remove the dog from the home.
No matter how *every* site on husky behaviour tells prospective owners NOT to leave huskies with infants–idiot parents just do not listen.
Huskies are high energy dogs that have serious physical requirements. Mine required *two hours* of full-on running, per day as a youth–and one of his legs was borked. Walking them is around a few blocks not enough. They need to run like beagles need to sniff and collies needs something to herd.
Husky owners tell people this. They’re a sled dog. No matter where you keep them you must find a way to let them run. Otherwise you’ll have a frustrated, ADHD dog bouncing about your place incapable of following commands.
Now, I could speculate that they treat infants like husky puppies, “Hey is this thing okay?” *pick up and shake* “oops no ruff”–but no one knows for sure why they have acquired that trait or how many of them share it.
But whatever the reasons, huskies and babies *do not mix*.
These people owned a husky before. Surely they read husky literature telling them not to leave huskies with infants.
But of course, like deluded pitbull owners–they believe that their awesome dog handling skills will mean the obvious will never happen to them. {{eye roll}}
Until it did.
TV shows, Disney and celebrities promote dog breeds and help fill up the shelters. After the Disney dalmation films, tons of uninformed folks bought dalmatians. Then, they surrendered their deaf, rambunctious dogs to shelters. Many of these dogs were euthanized. There’s a lot of celebrities pushing the poor misunderstood pit bull. Justin Theroux posts himself and his monster out to dinner and “kissing” all the time. Patrick Stewart of Star Trek is another propaganda pit nut. I don’t watch GOT, but not surprised at all by the contribution they’ve made to shelters and maulings. Not long ago, a little boy put his hand through a fence to pet a husky and it promptly tore his arm off. Too bad, too sad, another “accident.”
Husky mixes have always been popular in Canada (often mixed with GSD or collies) but I’m in agreement–Disney-fying dogs is dangerous beyond belief.
Especially now with flawless CGI. We’re talking pure fantasy, here.
You may have a point Colleen that huskies have dodged at least some of the pitbull bullet because husky owners keep saying the same things, over and over.
Once upon a time real dog trainers had to train real dogs to act on camera. Rin Tin Tin, The Littlest Hobo, Benji, Old Yeller etc. Every Hollywood director that ever worked with dogs would tell you how much time directing a dog would take, how hard it was and many swore to never do it again.
Now, dog won’t do a stunt? Just CGI the fake thing, in so the public “ooohs and ahs and I want THAT breed of dog”–not because they have a foggy notion of what that entails, but because it looked cute on screen and they want to get on their instagram and become instant celebrities through the antics of said dog.
They can’t handle the dog’s behavior?
Either get more attention while they spend a fortune and fail to fix the dog they were never equipped to handle or else dump the dog and ruin their “career” in the public view of thousands/millions.
When fame doesn’t happen, or they change handbags and the colour doesn’t match?
Out goes the dog.
Pets shouldnt be close to an infant for the first few months because of the risk of biting or infection. Even though our poodle is a sweet and very gentle dog we were careful that she didn’t get close to our newborn for the exact reason. Things can go wrong quickly if not supervised.
https://connecticut.news12.com/milford-family-mourns-death-of-baby-following-accident-involving-the-familys-dog
This coverage is odd.
“It wasn’t an attack, just a tragic accident. Now let’s talk about the uncle and his blog.”
Very distasteful.
If it wasn’t an attack, what was it? A love bite?
If this was just a tragic accident, why was the Husky put down?
That seemed odd to me as well.
The whole thing seemed really disingenuous.
The media should have played the radio chatter from the fire department stating it was a bite to the head since the family refused to be honest about what happened.
News is supposed to inform.
This report did the opposite of that.
They wont say what happened but they are sure it wasn’t an attack.
Most people would consider a fatal bite to the head an attack.
The uncle went into videography of active police, medic and fire response to tragedies like house fires, shootings, car accidents. The TMZ of human suffering, posted live while it happens. He sits and listens to the monitors then goes to record. I find it extremely upsetting that he exploits human suffering for a living.
I found his interview exploitive, his tears disingenuous, and his self marketing shameful.
I am growing so weary of the pain inflicted on all of society by the misguided attempt to “save them all” with dogs, allowing breeders to breed indiscriminately for profit, and humans trying to love away inbred behavior.
With another child’s death today, I am mourning what we have become as a society. I don’t know how I can help or at least stop contributing to the dog problem.
As I have said before, if children and other humans were dying and being grievously injured by sharks at this magnitude, all sharks would be killed. Every tv station would be reporting on it.
Don’t forget about the bullet proof vest he wears because he says that he gets a lot of threats from people that don’t want him to show them and their families on his page. They tell him to get the camera off them when he goes live or take a picture off his page and he says no. But when its his own he lies about how it happened and gets secretive about it. If that happened to someone else he would’ve been all over it like bees on honey.
I was wondering the same thing….
Husky’s and Malamutes have a history of killing babies as seen on THIS site. People just don’t know, don’t do the research and don’t want to hear it.
It’s incredibly difficult to break though cognitive dissonance.
You gotta love the passive aggressive language: “A newborn child in Milford was killed in an accident involving the family’s dog”.
So, how should we interpret that – A pressure cooker blew up and injured the baby and the dog? The dog was in the same car as the baby when the car slid in the snow and crashed?
The lengths media and authorities go to to protect these things.
AU…you’re spot on. The media failed again to inform and educate the public about the risks of huskies and babies. They start the story concerned about “upsetting” viewers. That’s not because the infant is dead, it’s because viewers worship dogs. Plain and simple. (They also don’t want to “upset” their sponsors i.e. Petco or animal shelters.) Then, they don’t use the available audio logs because they don’t want to offend anyone, especially the family. The family wants to keep the fairy tale image of their mutt being the baby’s guardian that just made a mistake. Such B.S. This was yet another missed opportunity to expose the proclivities of this particular breed. Yes, these dogs like to pick up babies by their tender, fragile heads. Whether the dog meant to kill the baby or not…we now have ANOTHER dead baby. A breed expert should have been on-air to talk about this. Oh, but no, let’s give the uncle a bunch of airtime to promote his podcast/blog. It’s despicable.
This reminds me of war coverage. The side the media liked “was killed” while the side that media isn’t rooting for….”died”.
Same tactic.
I’m a husky owner. I love them in the right hands.
That baby was killed by a husky.
See that Mainstream Media?
The truth isn’t difficult.
Still no coverage by the mainstream media in CT regarding this “unfortunate accident”. WTNH chooses instead to cover a dog abandonment with a video of the tearful,heartbreaking scene, along with a dire warning that the person once caught will be publicly pilloried and torn apart by the media hounds from hell.
The abandoned dog may become their next “Pet Of The Week’. But I doubt it since it doesn’t seem to posses winning smile and toothy incisors that they love to promote as the perfect family pet for a family with young children and a bedridden elderly invalid .
You know…The truth must be that Annie Hornish is running the media show in CT.
Her and her singing pit bull.
{Singing “One Of These Days” by Pink Floyd as if it were the lyricist}
Of course his family members is going to denied that their sweet dog didn’t attack and killed their newborn son.new flash the dog did attack and killed sweet brayden no sugarcoating that.dogs owner no matter if it a dangerous dog breed pitbull huskies is going to denied their sweet dog didn’t attack killed their loved one may sweet baby Brayden Rest In Peace because he only lived for two weeks because his family dog killed him.
Another fantastic breed of dog for children is the Collie. Remember Lassie. Lassie was actually a male because male collies have better coats than Collie bitches. When Lassie was in a dog fight and saved the day, he was actually playing with the other dog. The film was slowed down in order to make Lassie look like she was fighting. Àggressive dog sounds were added to the film.
Look at the film of King, the Husky, attacking people. He is actually playing with people, not biting.
I think he is actually a malamute, not a husky. The biggest problems people have with huskies are keeping them at home and perhaps their vocalizing. They also kill livestock, primarily sheep. There is no particular breed of dog which does everything that dogs do.
Using huskies and pitbulls for service dogs is crazy.
90% of human fatalities by dogs being considered equal both mentally and emotionally to humans. People no longer ‘own’ dogs, but they are the ‘parents’ of those dogs. You are your dog’s “Mom” or “Dad”. Not the dog’s owner; and the dog is your ‘baby’.
Change the words, you change the thinking. The animal equipped with the weapons to kill and eat what it needs by the time it’s 6 months old, is just a fluffy version of an infant. It gets toys showered on it and it’s photographed and pasted on all sort of social media, sometimes in clothes.
“Parents” are normally only liable for willful, intentional damages caused by a minor child, so cries of “he didn’t mean to” and “he was only playing” when a dog damages property or kills someone or something seem to make sense to many dog owners.
I cringe when the receptionist at the vet calls me my dog’s “parent”. I want to reply, “someday, I expect I will pay this practice euthanize my dog. This is not how a loving parent would deal with a child’s illness, do not call me my pet’s ‘parent’.”
Caz…Amen to that.
Add in, if I walk in a vets and I hear that “ookie wookie the cutey bestest ears sweetie wif his momma wanna treaty wheatie for his wellness checkup?” bullcrap–it’s guaranteed they’ll charge me 3x the amount of the vet that says, “Hold your dog while I check him”
The whole “dog parenting” nonsense is nothing more than a money trap.
they were
probably introducing ‘new sister; and then it went south that quick
What did it say, Colleen?
Ah, I see the update. Thank you for following up. I have sent countless people to this site. You are a great resource. Appreciated.
What happened to pure maternal instinct? No one had to tell me not to leave my newborns within reach of a dog, even the dog I loved and raised.
Has the human species lost its survival instinct?
I never left a baby in a car either. When you are the primary life giver of a helpless infant newborn every cell in your body ought to be tuned to their survival.
These cases astonish me.
omg, several people commented on my exact same thought and first instinct – questioning what’s wrong with people leaving.small children alone with a dog. As someone also said they are an animal and they have instincts. Why people especially allow certain breeds of dogs to live in their home especially with children and breeds that are known to be aggressive is extrem ly difficult to understand. My best friends son had 2 pit bulls and a car and got the dogs when the wife was pregnant. Their little boy is 2 and both dogs have a history of fighting together. My friends son has been bitten more than once trying to break up the dogs fighting. On one occasion his hand was hurt bad enough that he gad a tendon injury along with the bite that required repair surgery. My friend and her husband are extremely concerned and have spoken up to their son saying why did you get those dogs expecting a baby and why have you help them even with history of them fighting. They’ve told their son – you are waiting for a tragedy to happen and it’s not a tragic accident if you know the pit bull dogs are aggressive by nature and you be been injured and had surgery. To me that’s child neglect. i’m wonder too as someone mentioned if this baby died from a tragic accident ; a head injury and out was mot an attack then why not disclose what happened or why it say nothing or be very vague. Why is a family member making general comments and most of all why was the dog out down? As someone said of it was a case of the dog unfortunately knocking over the baby in whatever the baby was in then say that. However if your dog is that big and the chance of that hapoening us there then that dog should not be there. Parents – baby is top priority!! So so sad people put blinders on and allow big aggressive animals to live with children. Abd for the kids if me i dint understand these people who have known mixed breed or full dogs that are know to have characteristics of aggressive, hunting extremely active, dangerous dogs in their homes! Like those mentioned that sound like dog – wolf possible mixes!!