1-year-old girl mauled to death by family’s pit bull, police say

An Ohio couple is grieving the “unimaginable tragedy” of the death of their 1-year-old daughter after their pit bull unexpectedly attacked her, according to police.

Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis L. Campbell said that deputies were called out on a report of a dog attack at a home on Lake Road in Dover Township on July 2 at about 6 p.m.

‘It was about as terrible of [an] ordeal as we’ve come across in a long time.’

Campbell said an emergency dispatcher received an initial call where nothing could be heard and then received a second call moments later from the mother, who said her child had been killed.

When deputies arrived at the residence, they found the child with bites to her face and neck. She was declared dead at the scene.

The mother told officers that she was picking up clothing in a laundry basket with her daughter next to her when the dog suddenly attacked. Deputies said they observed defensive wounds on the woman, who tried to save her daughter.

“It was about as terrible of [an] ordeal as we’ve come across in a long time,” Campbell said.

He said the dog had not previously attacked any person but had been aggressive toward other dogs.

“While it … had a couple of incidents of aggression towards the other dogs, it had not towards the people. They didn’t have any sign of this,” he added.

RELATED: It’s way past time to ban pit bulls

Campbell said the father of the girl was not at home at the time of the attack and that he later euthanized the dog with deputies’ authorization. There were no charges in the case, and no charges are expected.

An online charity account identified the victim as Blakely Blosser and asked for donations to help the family deal with the tragedy.

The incident is resurfacing the debate over whether certain dog breeds should be banned. Peter Gietl, the managing editor for Return at Blaze Media, made the argument against pit bull ownership in a recent article after a similarly horrific incident.

“I’m not calling for a dog holocaust. But if you’re going to bring a living weapon into a crowded urban neighborhood, maybe we should pause. Maybe we need strict breed-specific legislation, as is common in the U.K., France, Denmark, and even parts of Canada. Maybe some things don’t belong in apartments or parks full of toddlers,” Gietl wrote.

“It’s not heartless to say that. It’s compassionate. It’s sane,” he concluded.

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