A baby's first birthday party turned tragic when he was killed by the family's dog during the celebration.
WARNING -- Graphic Description Below:
The Las Vegas Sun reports that the 120-pound Mastiff/Rhodesian mix had never displayed any previous signs of aggression toward people, according to the family who lives in Henderson, Nev.
The baby crawled over to the dog to pet him, the police reported. The Daily Mail writes that Chris Shahan, the baby's father, believes his son tried to grab the dog’s fur to stand up when the dog reacted.
The dog ... latched his jaws around the boy's head and began shaking him, police said. The grandmother attempted to pull the boy from the dog while other family members rushed to help, police said.
Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Shahan said, "I got the dog off the baby ... I tried to save my baby."
According to the reporter in the My News 3 KSNV video below, Shahan "wants to be clear that this was an accident, not some kind of vicious attack."
According to KLAS-TV, the dog will be observed for rabies, and will then be euthanized.
News of the baby's tragic death comes just a few days after the Associated Press reported on a two-month old who was killed and dismembered by a dog in South Carolina.