A four-month-old baby was dragged out of her basket and mauled to death by her family’s rescue dog, an inquest recently heard. The baby, Mia O’Connell, was killed on June 6 in 2021.The dog ‘Red’, a terrier Dachshund cross, was found standing alongside the baby with blood on its mouth. During the inquest, the deceased baby’s parents Ella Wood and her partner Rhys O’Connell, said their “hearts are broken forever”.
Ella’s sister Emily was the first person to saw Mia and the dog with blood on its mouth. “I could see Mia on the ground in the middle of the room, between the bed and the Moses basket. The dog was just standing behind her as he had already done it. There was blood all over the dog’s mouth,” Emily was quoted by The Mirror as saying. World’s Oldest Living Dog: American Family’s 23-Year-Old Chihuahua ‘Spike’ Takes The Guinness World Record (See Pics)
Cork Coroner Philip Comyn told inquest the death of Mia O’Connell, of Clashmore, Co. Waterford, that while dogs offer ‘wonderful companionship’ they can cause serious harm.
Mia O’Connell was born prematurely on February 22, 2021, weighing just 2 kgs. Ella Wood and her partner Rhys O’Connell, who had got engaged the previous New Year’s Eve. Cork Coroner’s Court heard that the couple were deeply in love and ‘ecstatic’ at the birth of Mia.
Following the inquest, Heidi O’Connell, another aunt to baby Mia, urged new parents to ‘think carefully’ before bringing a dog into their homes. She said, ‘The pain is unbearable. I think it will never go away. Our hearts are broken forever. We will never get her back.’
‘It is still like a nightmare. Full of smiles and full of giggles and she was taken away from us so abruptly and so tragically.’This dog was a small terrier. He wasn’t a pitbull or anything like that. There was some concerns but you would never in a million years think that something like this would happen to you or your family,’ Ms O’Connell said. Pet Rooster Turned Into Dinner By Mom and Eaten After It Allegedly Attacked Her Daughter in Mississippi; Internet Has Its Say (See Viral Pics)
The rescue dog ‘Red’, a cross between a terrier and a dachshund, has been destroyed. The inquest had heard that the dog had refused to hunt for the person who previously owned it.
(The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on Jan 20, 2023 12:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).
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