Woman blames toddler for dog attack. WHAT!!??

The mother is the one who needs to be put down. If the kid was hurting the dog it's perfectly understandable that he got bit. Being a toddler he wouldn't have understood just saying NO. She would have had to get up off her a$$ & physically remove the child from the situation. She didn't which was neglectful of her. By what you said you'd punish the dog if your kid did something particularly nasty & cruel to it & it attempted to defend itself the only way it knows how. That's just not right.

Well...it defeniatly isn't the childs fault, they don't understand at the toddler stage. I mean my nieces, they are old enough to understand how they should treat animals (5 and 7). When they are mean to our animals they are stopped as soon as they are seen, and they get in A LOT of trouble. Lucky for them, all our dogs have A LOT of patience. Once, I saw one of my nieces hitting my dog in the back with her toy shovel, she wasn't hitting hard, but it wasn't soft either. The dog just stood there. I ran outside and yelled at her, she got put in time out, didn't get snacks...whatever. But they are at an age they know how to treat animals. Toddlers...they don't know. They won't even know that they are mistreating an animal, they'll only think they are playing. The fault defeniatly lies with the mother; not the child or the dog. What was the toddler doing to the dog? I believe you can't always blame the dogs for biting, because sometimes children can do things that will justify getting bit. But the mother is defeniatly an idiot, and is at fault.

OMG what planet is this woman on, with her attitude she shouldn't be allowed children PLUS she shouldn't be allowed to keep animals either, if she rather spends her time texting instead of looking after her child then she is totally deranged, surely she has heard about the horror stories about children getting badly bitten and worse killed by dogs? No matter what type of dog it is I wouldn't be happy having a two year old child with it, semi or unsemi supervised, all animals are unpredictable no matter how much they are trained, they have instincts. I hope she suffers the consequences I am sorry I have no pity for these people and I think she should be shot along with the dog, get a discount if you get them both done! Calling planet earth!

Well, I must say that I find this appauling!!! The following excerpt from the article is what really got me! [Ms Cottier said she noticed her son pulling at the dog's ears. "I told him to stop or she'd bite him, then I kept texting . . . next thing I knew she had snapped," Ms Cottier said. She said the five-year-old dog named Cassey was not vicious. "It's not as bad as it looks. The dog just snapped at him and bit him," she said. Ms Cottier said she would speak with her former partner, and he may consider taking the dog to his place. Otherwise, she said she would ensure the dog and the child were kept apart.] Well....i certainly hope that the dog is kept away from the child at all times but I would be putting the dog down...Of course before this happened I would have forgotten about a stupid text message that could wait and would have spent some time with the child showing him how to play with the dog properly or distracting the boy to another activity... This could have been prevented!!! ~Heavens~

That article upsets me. How ridiculous of her to blame her two year old child over her dog. Seems like her dog is more her baby than her actual son! Aargh that dog would of been put down if it did that to my son - no doubt about it.

After reading th article, I blame the mother. If you see a situation like that as a parent, get off your butt. A two year old isn't going to stop anything the 1st time you tell them to do anything.While this dog was probably warning and it went bad, it needs to be removed from the home. Maybe placed with a home of older children(teen) or no children at all. And that mom needs parent lessons.

woman should have the authorities take that child away from her that is what I think

its very obvious the mother is to be blame for that situation..its her responsibility to take care of her child ..just wondering what kind of mom she is...and about the dog well maybe irritated due to the bothering of the child or whatever causes ...

Ok, that attack is definitely her fault. It's not that difficult to stop texting or doing whatever else you think is important in your busy life to remove your child from a situation in which you know could probably turn into a bad one.

They are those who love and respect animals for what they are... and those who don't. Those who don't should not be allowed to have an animal. Dogs and cats are not toys for your convenience. They have a life of their own. Nobody has told them about our stupid laws... so a dog does not know that he is forbidden to defend itself against a human. And the only way a dog know how to defend itself... is with his teeth. So... in this case... the woman is the smart one because she understand the dog. While you are the dense one who would kill a dog to satisfy your selfishness. Perhaps her only fault was to be more interested by her texting than by her child. Blame the mother... not the dog!

The mother should be looking after her child since her child is not old enough to follow instructions.Why is she blaming the baby?Should'nt she be the one who's supposed to be blamed since she didn't do some discipline to him?

Trying to think of the best way to answer this...LOL. First the woman WAS an idiot not to watch her son better and instead was more interested in her texting. The son is really too young to understand to not tease or provoke an animal. But I don't see the dog being at fault. If any animal is provoked enough, even the most gentlest of animals will have the attack instinct. I'm pretty sure if I went over and started tugging at one of my cat's ears that annoyed them I'd probably get attacked by my own cat. All I can say is that my parents must have had real trust and faith in both me and the dog they had at the time. This was when I was a little over a year old...there's a picture of me sitting on the floor and right smack dab next to me is this enormous dog ...it's a very peaceful setting...I'm sitting there nice and contently and so is the dog...I forget what breed it was but I do know it was a hunting dog, as my father's father bred hunting dogs...now yeesh, if ever there be a dog ready to "attack" it be that kind of dog...but nothing happened to me ever and I guess even at that young age, (yes at a mere year or so old) I must have had the sense of not teasing the dog (if ever I can find that picture I would love to post it....I do still have it...somewhere). But no, I don't blame the dog biting that kid not if the kid was being a pain in the "a" and bothering the dog...but yes, the mother really should've watched her child better and instead of just "telling" the kid to stop teasing the dog, to take her child away from the dog instead

The mother is at fault in my opinion, get off of the phone (text) and take care of your baby. The child is only 2, not at fault in any way. My white boxer bit my 14 year old son on the ear about 3 years ago. The dog left the house and went to a good home, I see her often, she is not a mean dog. It was my son's fault, he had her in a head lock and she wanted out of it. My other son was a witness. I was not at home.

this mother bring idea of adults into baby' mind.she neglect toddler'age and sense.what a pity baby.

What kind of mother is she that she would prefer a big dog over her son? I would get rid of that dog in a heart beat. It has proved it is dangerous and two year olds are not much more than babies. They are still learning. She should have put the cell phone down, and then took the little boy away from the dog and told him no.

That is crazy - I would not have a dog in the house (or yard) that will bite. True the child may have been bothering the dog but the dog should just walk away - at the same time the mother should be watching her child closer. I won't take my eyes off my grandchildren when their in the room with the dog or the cats for just that reason - stop it before it starts.

if the child was older I'd agree with her, but at that age it's clearly her fault. the thing is, children often provoke, taunt or hurt dogs. the dog shouldn't be expected to sit there and take it. if the child is not old enough to understand a dogs boundaries they should not be allowed near a dog without very close supervision. the fact is, the child should not have been unsupervised with the dog enough for him to pull the dogs ears and hurt her. if a mother dogs pup hurts her, she nips it. the injuries may look nasty, but thats a snap. not an attack. if it was an attack with intent to harm, then the child would be lucky to be alive. if you read about the other incident with another dog mentioned, that is an attack. this dog was just telling the child off for hurting her. but with the age of the child, too young really to understand the possible consequences of their actions, the mother should have had her full attention on the two of them together, and removed the child from the situation as soon as she was aware of the child winding the dog up. it's not the dogs fault. it's not the childs fault. it's the mothers fault.

How in heavens name can a 2 year old be to blame - they do not understand consequences or how to treat animals - for goodness sake the majority of 2 year olds aren't even toilet trained! I find it outrageous that anyone , far less a parent could blame the child - children need to be supervised and protected not left to their own devices with an animal. Let me also say that I don't blame the dog either - any parent knows that accidents can happen easily but I think nearly all of us agree that leaving a child with a dog is just really thoughtless and tantamount to neglect. That you could do that and then blame a 2 year old is inconscionable - I would be devastated and wracked with guilt! xxx

Something is very wrong with that mother. How could he blame a baby that does not know anything. He is just a baby for god sake and how could he understand the phrase "do not disturb the dog"? This kind of mother should be charged with negligence!

Hi: I agree with the lady. If the child didn't bug the dog the dog wouldn't have snapped. If you were a dog, which I know you aren't, but if someone was bugging you wouldn't your normal response be to say "bug off". If someone is bugging you what's your normal response "oh, gee thanks for bugging me, I was trying to sleep, but bugging me is really great thanks". I don't think so. We're fortunate we can turn around and say things like bug off, but a dog can't.