RHODE ISLAND -- The parents of a 6-day-old girl killed by the family dog on Wednesday at first thought the child was only slightly hurt, according to police.
Coventry police say the father of Alexis McDermott told them he got a call from his wife on Tuesday morning saying something was wrong with the baby.
Scott McDermott said he returned home and he and his wife, Cindy, checked on Alexis. Cindy had found a small amount of blood on the baby's head, but Scott McDermott told police when they examined the baby together, it appeared the wound was minor, as the bleeding had stopped, according to a news release from Coventry police.
Cindy's mother came to the house, and the three decided to drive the baby to the hospital. Alexis stopped breathing on the way, and the family brought her to a West Warwick fire station for medical help.
The baby was taken to Kent County Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy determined the baby died from "injuries to multiple internal organs and internal bleeding due to blunt force trauma" from multiple dog bites, police said.
Police said Scott McDermott told them his wife said she had left the baby in a portable crib while she went into the kitchen. She heard Alexis crying and returned to find the baby on the floor with the dog, a male Husky, nearby.
Cindy McDermott has not yet spoken with police. They said she is too upset to meet with detectives.
Coventry police released a statement Thursday, but did not return phone calls seeking further comment.
No telephone listing for the family could immediately be found.
The dog is being held by animal control. Its fate has not been determined.
Police said Scott McDermott told them there had been no problems with the dog in the past and the dog had not shown any aggression to the baby since she came home from the hospital.
While dog attacks are not the leading cause of injury to children, they are also not uncommon, said Dr. Michael Shannon, director of emergency services at Children's Hospital in Boston.
"Just in the past month, I've seen at least five children with serious injuries from a dog," he said.
Children's behavior makes them more likely to provoke an attack than adults, and their size makes them more vulnerable because an attack on a child more likely to hit a vital organ, Shannon said.
Maria Wah-Fitta, a spokeswoman for Rhode Island Department of Health, said the department tracks childhood deaths, and a review of those records since 1998 found no instances of death by dog bite.
Of 27 people who died from dog bites in 1997-98, 19 were children under the age of 15, according to data on the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC says children - and boys from 5 to 9, in particular - have the highest rate of emergency department visits stemming from dog attacks.
(Sun Journal - July 15, 2005)
