*Every family with a young child and a dog must be cringing right now. We’d love to trust our pets, and believe that they realize its just a baby or young child, so “be gentle.” I’ve seen it. They do.
Sometimes.
But the reality on too many occasions is that animals get jealous when the attention goes from them to the family’s newest addition. This may not always be the case, but can you really afford to take that chance?
Unfortunately for one Texas family, the answer comes too late. When they went out to the yard to check on their little boy, they saw the child lying motionless on the ground, and the family dog gnawing at his neck.
Officials says the boy possibly got ?too close? to the dog, who was described only as a “mixed large breed” who was tied up when it attacked little Noah Trevino, according to local TV station KSAT.
?It appears that the child may have gotten too close to the dog,? the Bexar County Sheriff said, KSAT reports.
?A family member went to check on him in the [backyard] and saw the dog biting the neck area of the child who was laying on the ground,? Johnny C. Garcia, a spokesman for the sheriff?s office, tells PEOPLE in a statement. ?The child was freed from the dog by the family member who took the child inside.?
Noah suffered from life-threatening injuries when he was airlifted to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to KSAT, Sheriff Salazar said that children should not be left alone with dogs ? even a family?s dog.
?Even if the dog doesn?t show any outward signs of aggression, sometimes they can be unpredictable,? he said. ?So it?s best to always be vigilant when you?re dealing with a small child and a dog like that.?
Officials continue to investigate, but the dog will be tested for rabies, and then euthanized.
