The mastiff cross name Kingston attacked Deeon Higgins while he was at a relative's home in Deniliquin, NSW, yesterday.
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| The mastiff which attacked and killed the little boy |
The child's grandmother, aged 70, intervened but was unable to release the child. The child's mother arrived and fought the dog off.
He and his grandmother were taken to Deniliquin Hospital by NSW Ambulance Paramedics but he died a short time later. The older woman has been treated for exhaustion, bruising and abrasions.
Council rangers and police seized the dog. It was destroyed overnight.
Authorities said today the dog wasn't considered dangerous.
Even if it had been registered and treated as a dangerous breed, the toddler would still have been attacked, Deniliquin council manager Des Bliske says.
That's because council guidelines are mostly concerned with how dangerous breeds should be handled and restrained in public.
Dangerous dogs must be muzzled whenever they're outside their owner's property, which must have sufficient "containment measures", Mr Bliske said on Monday.
But on Sunday the little boy was attacked in his grandmother's yard by a mastiff cross that's owned by his 24-year-old cousin.
Mr Bliske said the brutality of the mauling was unusual.
"We've probably had three or four (attacks) over the last 12 months, not all of them involving people," he said.
"People that own dogs generally control them and keep them very well contained."
Detective Inspector Darren Cloak of the Deniliquin police said the family and local residents were "shocked" and "distraught" by the boy's death.
(Daily Telegraph - Aug 5, 2013)
