BANGKOK, Thailand – A heartbreaking tragedy unfolded when a pit bull snatched a 2-month-old baby girl from a cradle and fatally bit her head, despite the owner’s earlier assurance that the dog “doesn’t bite.”
Pol. Col. Phetkamphaeng Yuyod, Superintendent of Khao Bang Kraek Police Station, along with investigators, received a report from Nong Chang Hospital on the afternoon of September 16. The report stated that a 2-month-old girl had been mauled by a pit bull, sustaining severe injuries, and later died. Police immediately went to inspect the house in Moo 15, Ban Rong Si Mai, Thung Pho Subdistrict, Nong Chang District.
At the scene, bloodstains and drag marks stretched around 6 meters toward a drainage channel. Nearby, a baby stroller with three bloodstained toys was found. The dog, a 2-year-old pit bull named “Big,” was still roaming around the house, forcing officers to stay in their vehicles until the owner restrained it.
On the morning of September 17, reporters met the baby’s mother, Ms. Kantima Anantarak, 35, at Nong Chang Hospital, where she was preparing to take her daughter’s body for autopsy in Nakhon Sawan. She tearfully recounted that she had gone with her father to collect recyclables, bringing along her 2-month-old daughter. Beforehand, her father had asked the homeowner whether the dog was aggressive, to which the homeowner replied, “No, it doesn’t bite.”
While helping her father weigh the items, she noticed the car tire was flat. Her father suggested bringing the baby down from the car so he could fix it. At first, the pit bull wasn’t nearby, as it had followed its owner inside the house. The baby was left with her older son near the cradle.
Soon after, the homeowner and the pit bull returned. The dog sniffed the baby, and although the owner reassured them it wouldn’t bite, the dog suddenly broke free from its owner, lunged, and bit the baby’s head. It lifted the baby into the air and ran off. The mother said she was shocked, as it happened while her back was turned. Despite desperate efforts by the dog’s owner and her son to hit the dog and force it to release the child, it was too late by the time it let go.
The dog’s owner has offered to cover funeral expenses, but further compensation has not yet been discussed. The grieving mother said she is devastated that she could not save her baby.
