Toddler Mauled By 7 Dogs: 21-Month-Old Girl From Georgia Dies After Being Attacked By Family’s Pit Bulls, Dogs Euthanized

Savannah Morning News reports that a female toddler mauled by seven dogs has died when she was attacked at her home’s backyard, Wednesday evening. Police from Bryan County in Georgia are investigating how the child was attacked and killed by her family’s own canines.

At around 6:30 p.m., the county police’s dispatchers received a call that a 21-month-old girl had been attacked and killed by seven dogs, according to Sheriff Clyde R. Smith. The toddler mauled by seven dogs was pronounced dead on the scene.

Police report says that the girl’s grandmother was asleep when she was awakened by some noise and commotion occurring in the yard. She looked out her window and saw the deadly attack, but was not able to save the toddler in time.

The dogs belonged to the child’s family and were pit bull and pit bull mixes. All seven dogs were euthanized after causing this deadly and vicious attack.

Police officials are uncertain at the time of the attack, how the toddler managed to leave the house and go to the backyard. Speculations are that since the girl’s 12-year-old brother was at home at the time, he may have taken her out to play, or the she accessed the yard through a doggy door.

The family had nine dogs altogether. The toddler that was mauled by the dogs played with them frequently, according to the reports. Two dogs that were not involved in the attack were not of the pit bull breed.

It was unclear Wednesday night if any charges would be filed concerning the attack.

There have been numerous attacks involving pit bulls that have occurred in the past few years, according to the Christian Post. These occurrences have prompted lawmakers to label the breed as vicious. In 2012, a Maryland court ruled that pit bulls were “inherently dangerous” following the 2007 attack of a young boy in the state who then suffered life-threatening injuries from the incident.

In 2000, after a study was conducted on two decades worth of dog attacks that were reported all over the U.S., the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that pit bulls and Rottweilers were involved in more than half of the 238 deaths that took place from dog bites.