Dog Kills Newborn. Father Charged. Should he be charged?

Thanks OP for this thought provoking post. I respect your view and understand it because I am also a father and people make mistakes. I disagree that he should be shown mercy. the crime was against society. are we saying that the circumstances would be different if the child victim was not his own child but a friend of the family's? or if two 8 month old toddlers were in side by side swing sets, and the dog mauls the non related one and not his child? it is a sad situation, and yes, the father will live his punishment in his heart and head for the rest of his life. that doesn't change the fact that he needs to be held accountable in a court of law. when one thinks about how the child must have suffered and cried out loud in horror screaming for his father... how much is each minute of suffering worth?

reply to post by smithjustinb


Bad dog!

You (and you alone) are responsible for the well beeing of an helpless person, that you yourself put into this world.
Of course he should be punished.
What responsible person goes to sleep without having their small ones in a safe place?

Or if that is too much trouble - stay awake.
Responsible parents all over the world sacrifice their sleep in order to take care of their babies.

It was just a mistake perhaps?
Well, you cant afford mistakes when you have the lives of others in your hands.
Just ask the military - they screw up and get their buddies killed, they pay for it in military court.

The guy is clearly not able to take care of babies.

Originally posted by MJZoo
Was it a mistake? Yes.
Was it extremely careless........YES!

It's not much different than being charged if you were to kill someone while driving your car. People tend to forget that dogs are still animals and animals have wild instincts. I have a dog and an 11 month old daughter and even though my dog has never been aggressive I still won't leave them in the same room together. It's just not a chance I'm willing to take.

Uhhh, no. Lol. This would be like you taking a nap in your room while your car trampled an infant. Not at all the same thing. In the case of vehicular homicide, the driver is responsible because he or she was, presumably, behind the wheel. In the case of a pet killing a child without its owner's knowledge, the owner cannot really be held responsible. Dogs also tend to not be violent, especially if domesticated correctly. It wasn't a stray dog, but rather a dog that the guy had owned for a long time. You may not have pets, but most people who do tend to trust their pets. I seriously doubt the guy saw this coming, and I don't think it's "justice" at all to charge him.

reply to post by DestroyDestroyDestroy


I do have a dog, as I stated. And you're right, he obviously didn't see it coming. That's why it's an accident. It was still careless of him to leave an infant with an animal. I don't care what anyone says, animals retain their natural instincts. Even if the dog wasn't being malicious, animals are still capable of inflicting harm while just being "curious" My dog has dug up baby rabbits and killed some of them simply because she pulled them out of the hole to see what they were. Infants are fragile and cannot protect themselves, which is why the man should done a better job of ensuring the infants safety. Accidents happen because of a lapse in judgement. This man was responsible for looking after an infant. I'm not saying an 10 year prison sentence is necessary, I'm just saying he WAS the one responsible.

reply to post by MJZoo


I don't think that the responsibility of this infants death is entirely his own. Anyone can play captain hindsight and argue what he should and should not have done, but the fact is that what happened was an accident.

Blind justice is hardly justice, and so I don't think he should be tried.

It's one thing to unknowingly allow your child to be killed, its another to charge a man for doing so. I'm sure the burden of his child's death is punishment enough, but throwing him in prison or slapping him with a hefty fine solves nothing.

Is this man a threat to society?

If not, why should he be punished or imprisoned?
There is a fine line between justice and irrational vengeance.

Originally posted by syrinx high priest
how you not hear it ? somethings up. the sleeping story is either a lie or he was high

hey, I know parents are awfully tired during those times, but their hearing is also very tuned in for baby noises

the baby being killed is pretty much the definition of neglect

As a parent of 3 children, I HATE posts like these. You have no idea how f'n hard it is to take care for a child 24/7, or maybe you do, but if you DID, you would know that parents need rest from a child as SOME point in the day, and accidents CAN happen. And my ears are fine-tuned for......... what?! That is the stupidest CRAP I have seen on this forum. Thats like saying, you should be fully aware of everything while you are asleep, and KNOW whats going on at all times in home. I dont know what world you live in, but it sure is hell aint Earth. Cause I dont have that ability in the least, sorry.

Oh wait...... this is all written down in some manual somewhere that you read right? Yeah, though SO!

This is just heart breaking. I don't know what to think. The fact a baby was basically torn apart by a dog, obviously a house pet is so disturbing to me, that it makes me want to believe the father had no idea this would happen. I have a house dog, that I love so much and is just the gentle, most loving creature in the world! Would I trust him around a baby, Absolutely, but only under my supervision. Thats where the common sense thing comes in.

Originally posted by DestroyDestroyDestroy
reply to post by MJZoo

 

Is this man a threat to society?

If not, why should he be punished or imprisoned?
There is a fine line between justice and irrational vengeance.

For me, this is what it ultimately comes down to. Its sad to see that the majority of the world can't see it this way though. Its even sadder that we have a justice system that operates this way. Its honestly pretty redneck and backwoods.

Originally posted by Starwise
How horrifying! The father will have nightmares for the rest of his life! His life is ruined because of a damn dog!!!

I would have killed the dog myself if that had happened to me! Was he wrong, yes, probably very tired and his judgement may have been off.....10 years is really overboard in that situation though imo.....

Edit: He was dog sitting at the time? It wasn't his own beloved pet?? That makes a huge difference...he is an idiot!!

edit on 2-5-2012 by Starwise because: (no reason given)

I don't understand why people keep animals that can potentially kill their own children. This reminds me of a girl my family knew, whose father kept pit bulls. She was only 9 years old when one of those pits attacked her as she walked across her yard to pick up her toys. It chewed up part of her face, and despite plastic surgery, she will have to live out her life with large scars across her face.

I mean, why not use some common sense about what type of animal to keep around your children and in your home.

Originally posted by smithjustinb

Originally posted by dorkfish87
reply to post by smithjustinb

 

Yes, the father made a mistake, a stupid one. A very stupid one.
Should he be charged? Of course. If you own a dog and the dog gets out, you're responsible.

If I have a dog in a fence and the dog gets out and kills someone, I should be responsible? Are you joking?

And anyway the father probably killed the baby and blamed the dog.

Yeah, someone who makes assumptions like this should definitely not be taken seriously in an intellectual debate.

I agree. Not with the guy killed the baby part, just the "yes, if your dog escapes and hurts someone..." part.
I am a dog owner as well, and the responsibility of it's care, and the safety of the people around me(neighbor,etc.) falls on the shoulders of My wife and I, as WE bought, raised and care for this domesticated wolf(dog people...sheesh, he's a Belgian Malinois...but that's besides the point) that we brought into our neighborhood and home. If He attacks, injures or maims anyone We, like parents who's kids bust a window, are responsible.
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As responsible people, to minimize the risk that someone would be mistakenly injured, we: built a fence around our back yard to allow him to run freely, Put a stake in the front yard so he can come up there too, but limits him to an area that keeps him 5ft from the street, 3ft from my neighbor on the right, andon the driveway, but totally off the grass between my neighbor on the left.

There are kids in my neighborhood, 2-16yo, and I had a neighbor who insisted on allowing his UNCHAINED dogs(3 pits, 2 males 1 female) unrestrained access to his front yard. He worked nights like I do, and due to his careless attitude we had these issues:
1) He was attempting to train his dogs to be fighting pits....luckily they were total hams.
2) He did NOTHING to keep his dogs from crapping in my lawn.
3) He did both of those things, often while the kids were getting OFF/ON the school buses(he worked graveyard like me.)

one day we had a talk, and I politely asked him to make sure his dogs didn't crap in my yard. he ignored it, so I made sure it was tossed back into his.

Then I asked him if he wanted to connect a fascia (I dont know another term, basically...connect to my fence from the side of his house so he could let his own dogs have a place to run w/o endangering the kids) He ignored that too...a few weeks later, one of his dogs chased a little boy home, but the boy was far/fast enough to get in his own house as the dog got onto his porch..barking.

So I told him, right then, stopped him as he walked back with his dog on a rope(yeah) "I tried to work out solutions with you before...These kids are why my dog is restrained...I tried to be nice, but now it's done. understand me when I say this...IF I see your dogs out front, unchained DURING the times these kids go to/from school again...I will put them to sleep. THIS S#!^T will not happen again."

The next weekend, he put fence fascias on either sides of his home, with my help and the neighbor opposite of me, as we BOTH had dogs and fences before he moved in.
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You ARE responsible for what your pet does.

starchildren, it wasn't their dog, they were watching it for somebody. The dad was that tired, why did he volunteer to watch the dog in the first place???maybe they were going to pay them...who knows...

The poor mom, how many years of therapy will she need after walking into that scene.....