Five-week-old boy killed by family pet: a american Staffordshire terrier

A five-week-old boy was killed by the family’s pet American Staffordshire terrier in the early hours of Sunday in Kariong, west of Gosford.

Five-week-old boy killed by family pet: a american Staffordshire terrier

Police say a dog that killed a newborn baby in a horrific attack on the NSW Central Coast also attacked a neighbor’s dog four weeks ago.

District commander Detective Superintendent Darryl Jobson, of Brisbane’s Gosford-based water police, said the incident was “a matter of tragic proportions” and the child’s shocked mother had been taken by ambulance to hospital.

The boy’s distraught parents were being comforted today by family members and police said out of respect for them they would not disclose details of the actual attack

“Our thoughts are certainly with the parents, the family, the friends and also the first responders involved in this incident,” Superintendent Jobson said.

He said emergency services responded to “reports of a dog attacking a baby” around 2:18 am.

Superintendent Jobson said police attended the incident and performed CPR on the child.

Paramedics attended a short time later, but the newborn could not be revived and died at the scene.

Previous attack on neighbor’s dog

Superintendent Jobson said the dog, a registered American Staffordshire, had been involved in a separate incident about four weeks ago.

“A neighboring dog apparently got into the backyard and was mauled by this dog, unfortunately.

“That was a separate incident, but it will also be part of our investigation,” he said.

The incident has shocked the local community. Coen Moncelet, who lives down the street, began choking up as he described the incident as shocking.