Sata 4000 RP

A toddler who slipped outside through a doggie door was mauled to death by her family's seven dogs in the backyard while the attack went unnoticed by the child's mother and other relatives inside their home, a southeast Georgia sheriff said Thursday.

Bryan County Sheriff Clyde Smith said the child's grandmother told investigators she was lying in bed when she heard the pit bulls and pit bull mixes barking, and she looked outside her window to see them dragging the girl. Smith said she began yelling, "They're killing Monica!"

It was too late. Monica Renee Laminack, who would have turned 2 on June 1, was dead by the time an ambulance arrived Wednesday evening. Animal control officers used drugs to euthanize the dogs at the home on a rural road in tiny Ellabell, about 30 miles west of Savannah. Deputies found the girl's shoes, diaper and shredded clothing scattered across the fenced-in yard, Smith said.

"They had dragged the child all over the yard. ... They tore her clothes all up," Smith said.

The toddler lived in a modest, two-story house tucked away from the main road. The sheriff said four generations of the same family shared the home, including the child's 18-year-old mother, grandparents and two uncles who are still young boys.

The girl's grandmother, Michelle McIntyre, sat weeping on the tailgate of a pickup outside the home Thursday. Summer Laminack, the child's mother, sat next to her staring silently at the ground.

"She's in shock," Barbara Brauda, a friend who was visiting the family, told The Associated Press before a man approached and asked a reporter to leave the property. "She hasn't been doing a whole lot of crying because she's still numb."

The sheriff said at least three adult relatives were inside the home when the dogs killed the girl outside. No criminal charges had been filed Thursday. Smith said he expects charges will be brought after he's had a chance to discuss the case with the district attorney and the girl's family has been given time to hold her funeral.

"I can see child neglect at the very minimum," Smith said.

Relatives told investigators the dogs that mauled the child were essentially family pets — a mother dog and six offspring from a litter she had about 16 months ago, the sheriff said.

The dogs had their own doggie doors that let them come in and out of the house as they pleased. The family told deputies the dogs had never attacked a person, though one of them might have killed a cat, Smith said.

He said relatives insisted the toddler would play with the dogs and even "use them as pillows while watching TV."

Smith said the dogs looked healthy and well-fed, and investigators found no signs they were being used as fighting dogs by their owners.

"They said they have never been aggressive to other people," he said. "Why they got started I have no idea."

Christy Lamica lives across the street from the home where the girl was killed. She said she's seen neighbors walking pit bulls on leashes along the street but isn't sure where the owners live.

"Everybody on this street has dogs, and everybody pretty much keeps to themselves," said Lamica, who said she doesn't know the family of the mauled toddler. "Their dogs don't get out, and we never hear anything from them. I'm home all day, and I've never had issues."

johnso29

Tragic, but infuriating! More bad news for a excellent breed of dog due to irresponsible owners.

And now they've lost their daughter and their animals in one horrific moment.

Herb Flemmming

Better ban Pit bulls now.

johnso29

Yup. And guns too.

And that's not directed at you Herb Flemmming. Just reiterating your point.

AirGunner

Let's not stop there, better ban spoons too. They are a deadly weapon that enables me to consume above average amounts of ice cream and other delicous foods thus endangering my health. I need a government program to save me !

Back on topic, it's a tragedy that an innocent child had to die, especially in such preventable circumstances. Pit bulls have an undeserved reputation. Tragic accidents have happened with other dog breeds as well, they just don't get the negative publicity that Pit Bulls do. However, as a parent, I would never leave my child unattended around any dog.

JohnnyG

I agree! Along the same lines of thought, these dogs have undeserved reputations:

-bloodhounds for tracking
-border collies for herding
-german sheperds for law enforcement

Totally unfair and undeserved reputations, right? It's all in how you raise them. You can take a border collie and raise it to never herd or escort and it'll never have an urge.

I too, have had pit bulls in my life that were great dogs. Pitbulls are not firearms or man made machines. They are animals with a brain and their own will and instincts. WE have trained them to be fighters and killers, and so they will remain unless removed for great, great periods of time and many generations.

AirGunner

Opinions differ about raising dogs versus instinct. Example, a good friend of mine in KY owns a border collie and he purchased it from an professional trainer with AKC cerification regarding the dogs lineage...it came from a great line of competition herders. My friend finally gave up trying to train to herd after spending a considerable sum and keeps her (the dog) as a house pet. Bottom line a wild animal will do what it wants. Personally, I'll take a Belgian Malinois over a sheppard anyday . However, back on track... it still doesn't remove the obligation of my fellow parents from properly monitoring their infant children and never leaving them unattended with any kind of animal until they are old enough to recognize the warning signs of an aggressive animal. My wife nags at me because I get nervous and move the dog away from my son when her sisters Weimaraner gets too close. She always says "He's such a sweetheart, he'd never hurt anyone" any of us who have worked around dogs know that is not always the case, and she found out the hard way when the "sweetheart" nipped at her with no apparent reason. Bottom line, never leave a young infant/child unattended around a dog.

UnderOveur

No, they really don't. Sad to see that even in light of THIS story some folks will maintain that opinion about this entirely UNPREDICTABLE breed.

All this little girl did was crawl outside through the doggie door, and WHAM!

Pit Bulls are dangerous dogs and should only be owned by people who understand and respect that fact.

This breed was SPECIFICALLY CREATED FOR IT'S AGGRESSION AND FIGHTING characteristics. Specifically for them. Nothing else. Read up on the history of this breed. It was specifically bred for fighting. Period.

FLY6584

I would never own a Pit Bull for this very reason. Sure I know 99% of the time they are great dogs and gentle as a Lab, but they are still a ticking time bomb. I would never allow one around my 7 month old.

Do I think we need to get rid of the breed all together? Of course not, but I expect owners to keep them locked safely in their home, off the streets, and I consider you an extremely irresponsible parent if you leave your baby alone with a Pit no matter how well you think you know the Pit.

FlyJSH

On the question of nature vs. nurture, the Soviets did a little experiment to determine how wolves became domesticated dogs. The results of selective breeding for tameness "Fox pups of age 7–8 months were classified into four tameness categories. In the 10th generation, 18% of foxes were of the tamest category. In the 20th generation 35% were the tamest, and after 40 years the ratio increased to 70–80%. It was also established that genetics was responsible for 35% of tameness variation." (from Domesticated silver fox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

If it takes only 40 generations to go from completely wild animal to submissive (but rambunctious) pets, it isn't hard to imagine that one could breed anger back into a powerful domestic dog rather quickly.