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Boy Mauled by Fam. Dog; Mom Blames Son

by Matt Van Hoven

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January 30, 2008

MELBOURNE, Australia – The mother of a boy who was mauled by the family dog says she won't have it put down because her son antagonized the pooch.

Fox News reports that two-year-old Noah Newbold was tugging on the family dog's ears when the mastiff-pit-bull-cross apparently snapped at the boy, cutting his eye-lid and face.

Alicia Cottier, the boy's mother, says she warned her son not to bother the dog named Cassey. However, he continued pulling her ears and Cassey responded.

Cottier says the dog normally walks away from the boy when it gets annoyed with him. Noah's mother has little concern that the dog will be an issue in the future. In fact, Fox reported that the boy could be seen hugging and playing with the dog soon after getting patched up.

Paramedics who arrived at the scene said the child was lucky to have suffered such mild injuries – although Cottier says her son was covered in blood following the incident.

Because the snapping occurred on Cottier's property, no charges will be filed. Cassey won't be seeing the inside of an animal control truck any time soon – and hopefully, Noah won't be tugging at her ears either.

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animal attacks, dogs

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oldmaidcatwoman
oldmaidcatwoman
4 months ago
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The mom blames the little boy? If she was aware that her son was antagonizing the dog, she should have stepped in.
 
swayloveswasabi34
swayloveswasabi34
5 months ago
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Sounds a little strange. The mom should have watched closer.
 
Lynn
Lynn (azcrazygirl)
6 months ago
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Whether the boy was pulling on the dogs ears or not, the mother should have been supervising better. I mean the dog got annoyed and snapped because the boy hurt it, but the mother is really responsible for not watching her son, and stopping him from doing such bad behavior at such a young age...
 
kbehrendt
kbehrendt
6 months ago
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Yeah, that lady's a little crazy. Maybe it wasn't the dog's fault at all, and he definitely shouldn't be put down, but it sounds like she puts the dog above her son.
 
Cindy C.
Cindy C. (ladyboarder9669)
7 months ago
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Wow I LOVE animals but seriously, when one of them hurts your kid! tsk tsk...
 
Courtney B.
Courtney B. (Dollie504)
7 months ago
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This lady needs to be punished. It's your child.. watch him closer or keep your PIT BULL in another area of the house if you are going to neglect your child.
 
patty
patty (mikkizmom)
6 months ago
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The dog is a mix, why are you emphasizing pit bull? Most dogs will react to irritating behavour reguardless of the breed.
 
Sheryl J.
Sheryl J. (sheryl59)
7 months ago
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This mother needs some training, the child is two and the dog will always be a dog. You can't blame the dog or the child, but Mommy dearest is flirting with disaster if she does not step up to her responsibility of keeping them both safe.
 
MICHELLE G.
MICHELLE G. (CHELLEO543)
8 months ago
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You cannot blame the child, nor the dog. I don't care if she told the boy not to bother the dog, the boy is a baby just 2 years old. She is responsible, I only hope that nothing else happens and may not end up as easy as this one turned out.
 
Karen B.
Karen B. (kaly4647)
8 months ago
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I blame the mother. She's an idiot! He's 2 years old, watch him around the dog!!!
 
diana p.
diana p. (dianapringle)
8 months ago
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I love my pets but. The boy was only two. I blame the mother
 
cherrylee
cherrylee
8 months ago
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It's not the dog's fault, and it's not the 2-year old baby's fault, either. The mother is responsible for making sure her child is safe and as the dog's owner, responsible for the dog's behavior as well. I'm glad everyone is o.k. this time, but it still sounds like a potentially dangerous situation.
 
Robyn
Robyn (robyn101)
8 months ago
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I wouldnt call that JUST a cut, it looks pretty bad to me. I would not trust the dog with my child again. Moms are supposed to protect there children.
 
Jason P.
Jason P. (JPAULS)
8 months ago
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The mother needs to wise up--perhaps the child did antagonize the dog, but you need to see that this is not a good situation. The dog/child relationship is unpredictable. Perhaps a home without children would be best for the dog. Does the mother want to wait until something worse may happen? She need to deal with the situation for the safety of her child and the well-being of the dog.
 
sally r.
sally r. (KAR28)
8 months ago
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It is definitely the mom's fault. Granted, the child antagonized the dog--but the child is only 2 yrs old--he CAN'T be held responsible. The boy probablyhurt the dog and the dog was giving a warning snap to the child and caught his face by accident. I agree with not putting the dog down but the dog needs traing ans so does the mom. The dog is not respecting the family-he thinks he is the pack leader. Maybe a new home for the dog where responsible people take care of the dog would be best for all.
 
cherrylee
cherrylee
8 months ago
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I agree. This sounds like a good solution for everyone.
 
Amy H.
Amy H. (catlover85)
8 months ago
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I think that it was the childs fault. Kids today need to learn to respect animals and the boundries that they have. The boy should have also listened to his mother when she told him to leave it alone. Maybe next time he will listen.
Im glad to hear that the dog and kid are doing well.
 
boyscoutdad
boyscoutdad
8 months ago
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Let's see it wasn't the dogs fault, but maybe the Mom's for not supervising properly. At any rate humans first, the dog should go.
 
Dan4cats
Dan4cats
8 months ago
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sounds like the dog was probably protecting itself
 
ashley c.
ashley c. (chevycougar1369)
8 months ago
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i do thank the parent for seeing what its not always that animals fault. it is sad that it happened.
 
Ashley M.
Ashley M. (Merfelda)
8 months ago
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I don't agree with her keeping the dog. Little kids sometimes don't fully understand what there doing and if it happens again the child could get injured worse. I also don't agree with the mother putting it down. I think the parent should put the dog up for adoption to a family with out young kids, so then the dog can continue to live a happy life and the child won't be injured either.
 
Good for the mom for recognizing that it wasn't the dog's fault. Dogs are dogs, and even the sweetest dog will say "that's enough" if it's overly annoyed (like it did). It was gracious at first and would just move away but the little boy just didn't get the message.

With that being said, the mom needs to be hit over the head with the newspaper. "The dog usually walks away when he does this..."? Meaning the little boy has done this before? If it was my parents I would have been pulled away and told to stop once, maybe twice if there was a large time gap between the first and second incident (like four or five months) but after that I would have been pulled off the dog, given a swift spank to my tuchus and sent to my room. She shouldn't have left the kid around the dog like that in the first place and she shouldn't have let it escilate to that. I think that she should consider letting the dog live with a close friend or family member until the boy gets old enough to understand pet edicate or she has more time to watch the two together for everyone's sake.
 
CMiller4
CMiller4
8 months ago
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I'm sure the child did have something to do with the accident, but why would you want to take the chance of it happening again. Next time the damages could be worse.
 
myfast2
myfast2
8 months ago
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<span>this comment has been removed from the system</span>
 
Cindi K.
Cindi K. (tinaturner)
8 months ago
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feel bad that the child got mauled but the dog was protecting itself.
 
Erica R.
Erica R. (myfast)
8 months ago
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Good, it wasn't the dog's fault
 
monique p.
monique p. (moniquepicou)
8 months ago
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wow
 
houstonc
houstonc
8 months ago
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a 2 year should be watched better...
 
UnoDiamante
UnoDiamante
9 months ago
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I can understand someone telling a child not to do something..but the fact is, that he is a 2 year old and probably didnt remember or understand exactly why he shouldnt have pulled her ears...parents should never leave a child alone with their dog unless they are 100% sure that the dog will not do anything (and that is a rare dog who would be that tolerant..my pit bull was like that but she was 1 in a million..) I think the mother needs to seriously watch her kids closer when they are with the dog from now on...
 
rjm
rjm
9 months ago
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Maybe the mother should start watching he boy a little closer and teach him how to treat animals.
 
janice b.
janice b. (JRBYRAM)
9 months ago
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how many time's has the child pulled the ear? this may have been a warning from the dog . but you have to remember that the child was only two and you don't leave a two year old unattended. this could have been avoided.
 
crttrs
crttrs
9 months ago
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The child needs to be taught to listen better and respect the dog, not pulling ears, etc. And the mother needs to step in before the situation escalates like it did.
 
Ethan W.
Ethan W. (wooday0691)
9 months ago
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sounds like mom was at fault
 
Jeff K.
Jeff K. (jkruser)
9 months ago
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Very sad, what was the mother thinking. Instead of blaming her son maybe she should be blaming herself.
 
Laura J.
Laura J. (LAJess)
9 months ago
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I hope mom learned a lesson too- gotta watch and remove the child before things get to the point. Saying, "Don't pull the doggie's ears," is not enough.
 
Judy C.
Judy C. (judycraver57)
9 months ago
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A normal reaction for the dog, not the dog's fault. A normal activity for a 2 year old, not the boy's fault. Why didn't mom remove the 2 year old from the dog? Or remove the dog away from the child? Why didn't mom help prevent this?Sorry, I am a mom, but I think mom should have done more to prevent this situation. You don't just let a 2 year old pull and pester a dog knowing what the results will be. Gee..........
 
Peg L.
Peg L. (sjcmom)
9 months ago
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I agree with Julie U and JohnDavid. She should have taken the boy away from the dog before the dog responded. She shouldn't have assumed the dog would just walk away like it had before. She should be charged with neglect. The dog & the child are innocent victims of her stupidity.
 
Jason M.
Jason M. (jmm11874)
9 months ago
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Wow - hope there is better supervision in the future. . .
 
Tonya G.
Tonya G. (mamabear603)
9 months ago
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This is sad. Where was the mother.. I think she should be getting child neglect or something. No it isnt the dogs fault but why would she let the child keep tugging at the dogs ears if she knew it was going to bite the child?
 
Peggy W.
Peggy W. (ratterriermom)
9 months ago
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Obviously, it takes more than just "warning" a 2 year old to not pull a dogs ears. Children need to learn respect and at a that young of an age, there should have been more supervision, especially if the child continued to pull the dogs ears. Lesson learned, hopefully!!
 
Michelle K.
Michelle K. (koenighain)
9 months ago
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Oh my...I am sorry but there has to be close supervision in the first place to help this from occuring.
 
Anonymous
Anonymous
9 months ago
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AzWildcatFan
AzWildcatFan
9 months ago
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How old is this kid? Is he really old enough to listen to the word no? At his age, you tell him know and he'll keep doing it!
 
Anonymous
Anonymous
9 months ago
This comment has been removed.
 
John S.
John S. (JohnDavid)
9 months ago
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Mom might blame son, I blame MOM!
 
Kayla F.
Kayla F. (Kaylaa28)
9 months ago
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I think the mom was completely right. I always think that the dog shouldn't be blamed. He was pulling on the ear. And it obviously didn't seem to affect him so I don't think that anything should really happen. It seems like everything went back to normal pretty quickly
 
Elizabeth C.
Elizabeth C. (ecraver)
9 months ago
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Agreed. It was a normal reaction from the dog being antagonized, nothing to blame.
 
Emilee C.
Emilee C. (emc279)
9 months ago
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This is wierd. the dog shouldnt pull on the ears but the mother should know to pull the kid away from the dog when he does that. All in all a bad situation for everyone
 
BHOLTZ
BHOLTZ
9 months ago
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how tragic for all involved.
 
debbie l.
debbie l. (debbielewis)
9 months ago
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I wonder if they had their dog obedience trained? You can't keep a 2 year old from being a two year old. This is a part of their learning stage and curiosity comes with that. I think I'd check on having the dog go through some sort of training with children.
 
Nicole F.
Nicole F. (nikiaurora)
9 months ago
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"Mauled" by the dog? Hardly. That is such an obtuse headline. The dog responded just as it would have to a puppy who was a repeat offender. Both of my sisters taunted our dog when they were little- he was a retriever and they kept waving the ball in front of his face. When he tried to retrieve the ball, he hurt their hands a little. They had been warned before, and my parents supervised us a lot, but kids do have a way of evading the eyes of even the most watchful parent. I'm glad the mother reacted appropriately in making sure her son was alright, but also took the correct approach with keeping her dog. I hope her son, like my sisters, learned to better respect dogs and listen to their parents.
 
Daniel S.
Daniel S. (dannhl)
9 months ago
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Sounds fair. The son should know better. If the mother repeatedly warns him its his fault.
 
Carl
Carl (laurbit)
9 months ago
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How can you call a young child responsible for their actions around a pet that has the potential to hurt him? Sure, his behavior was wrong, but you must expect things like this and protect him as much as possible.
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