Sad Story, but Don't Blame the Puppy

You may be aware that at the end of July, a 2 month old baby was killed by a puppy, a black lab puppy at that. Apparently, the parents left the wee babe in a swing, unattended. The grandmother and mother, however, were home whilst this happened. First of all, never leave your kid unattended with a dog, no matter how docile. My parents' lab is well trained and docile. My nephews pick at her and pull at her, and she generally gets up and walks away without even a slight nip; however, I can't imagine what would happen to them if we weren't in the room. Now, if she were a small puppy, that would be a completely different story, I am quite sure. Puppy's like to chew. They like to play. They generally have no awareness of bad behavior. They really need to be out in a secured yard or tucked in a crate if left unattended, not to mention unattended with an infant present. Second, the infant should never have been left unattended. If the dad was going to work and the baby woke up, it's the mother's responsibility to entertain the child, not the swing's. Third, I can't imagine that the infant just sat there and let the poor puppy chew at it. It must have been screaming in agony. What on earth was going through the mother's head while her child lay screaming in a chair? You can't tell me that its screams were anything similar to an "I'm hungry" or "I'm poopy" cry. By 2 months, you should have a pretty good idea what the cries mean.

So, being the dog lover that I am, I really can't put any blame on that poor puppy that has since been put down. I put all of the blame solely on the parents.

I should also mention that I agree that the dog should have been put down. I could never look at that dog the same way either, but like I alluded to before, it never should have happened in the first place.