
Jeremiah Eskew-Shahan was with family members celebrating his 1st birthday at his grandmother’s house .
He was playing with the family dog when he was attacked.
The dog, Onion, a 6 year old Mastiff and Rhodesian mix has been owned by the family since he was puppy and the family says they have not witnessed aggressive behavior from him in the past.
Chris Shahan, the boy’s father, appeared on Fox 5 News and said that he felt like he lost 2 family members. He said that both the dog and his son slept together and were very close. He did say that his son was trying to get up and used the dogs fur to help steady himself. It is not known if this caused the attack,
The dog is currently under a standard 10 day observation and will be euthanized after the observation period.
There has been a lot of controversy about Onion with animal rights groups wanting to save Onion while many others think that that there is no choice except to euthanize the dog who was once considered a loyal family pet.
Shahan while obviously devastated at the loss of his one year son is also very distraught at the though of losing his dog who he has considered a part of his family.
I remember reading years ago that no matter how small or large or friendly a dog you think the dog is, you are still urged to use extreme caution when having a dog near a child especially an infant and should never leave a dog unsupervised with a small child.
Experts also suggest that you teach children at a very young age not to push pull or tug on a dog.
A canine’s natural prey mechanism can some into play with disastrous, deadly results.
For families with children and pets sharing a household that want to lean more here are some great safety tips from the ASPCA.