Two Rottweilers that mauled a five-week-old baby to death struck without warning while the girl slept in a bassinet as her parents sat close by at a family barbecue.
Friends of the little girl’s family have revealed how the child was asleep next to a table of six to eight adults at her grandfather’s home in Moruya, on the NSW south coast, on Saturday night when the tragedy occurred about 10.40pm.
They said the dogs were dozing harmlessly about 3metres away from the bassinet when, for no apparent reason, they suddenly pounced on the sleeping baby.
The child’s father, local chiropractor Tom Riley and his wife Lani, leapt to prise the dogs off their baby girl as horrified guests at the dinner scrambled to help.
They bundled up the blood-soaked child and rushed her by car to the nearby Moruya Hospital. But medics were unable to save her and she died shortly after midnight.
‘Everyone there had to be involved to get the dogs off,’ a family friend told Daily Mail Australia.
The child’s father, local chiropractor Tom Riley and his wife Lani (both pictured), leapt to prise the dogs off their baby girl as horrified guests at the dinner scrambled to help
A friend said Tom and Lani Riley’s two-year-old daughter had also been around her grandfather’s dogs repeatedly since she was born without any incident
‘There was a considerable amount of blood, it was terrible.
‘There was just no warning.
‘They were just having a family barbecue with the neighbours at the rear of the property and then they turned around the dogs were on her.
‘There were no other kids, the dogs weren’t running around and no-one was provoking the dogs or anything. They weren’t agitated or distressed.
‘It just happened out of nowhere.’
He said the couple’s other two-year-old daughter had also been around her grandfather’s dogs repeatedly since she was born without any incident.
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‘They’ve done it before, and there’s never been any issues before,’ he said. ‘They have another child who has probably been in the same position or very similar.
‘There’s never been an issue. It’s really horrible. It’s just beyond words.’
He said the tight-knit seaside town was reeling from the attack.
‘It’s really knocked this little community around,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing you can say. It’s just that tragic.
‘This will be really difficult for all the family to deal with. I spoke to the grandfather and he’s just in shock.’
Two Rottweiler-type dogs, which lived at the home, have since been seized by Eurobodalla Shire Council.
A spokeswoman confirmed the dogs were seized by council rangers but was unable to comment further due to the ongoing police investigation.
Two Rottweilers have been seized from a NSW south coast home following the death of a five-week baby girl (stock image of a Rottweiler is pictured)
The bay girl was rushed to Moruya Hospital on Saturday night but died several hours later
The spokeswoman could not confirm if the dogs have been euthanised, which is standard practice following a fatal dog attack.
A NSW Police investigation has been launched into exactly what happened at the home and a police spokesman could not provide any further comment.
The tragedy comes three months after toddler Jyedon Pollard, 2, was killed after he was mauled by a Rottweiler and a cattle dog owned by motel staff while staying at Cowra’s Country Gardens Motor Inn in the NSW central-west.
Of the more than 3350 dog attacks were reported across NSW council in 2022, at least 115 involved Rottweilers.
