A tragic incident unfolded this week when a toddler, barely two years old, was attacked by a group of four dogs within a residential property located in Upstate New York. The horrifying event, which required the child to be rushed to the hospital, occurred on a quiet Wednesday morning at a home on Fourth Street, situated in the quiet village of Hoosick Falls. This community, characterized by its location approximately 40 minutes northeast of Troy and a slight 10 minutes from the Vermont border, became the harrowed backdrop to this unnerving episode.
These aggressive creatures, identified as rottweilers, managed to attack the child within the child’s own home. This distressing information was reported by Sgt. John Hudson Jr., an officer from the Hoosick Falls Police Department, in a conversation with WTEN. In a rapid reflex response to the distressing scene, the mother of the injured toddler acted promptly, taking the child outside as quickly as she could.
The local Town of Hoosick Rescue Squad was quick to provide first-response aid, bolstered by a paramedic from the Cambridge Valley Rescue Squad. Following the collective effort on-site, the toddler, traumatized and in pain, was safely transported to Albany Medical Center. The Hoosick Falls Police Department released this information in a public statement. Unfortunately, the current state of the injured toddler’s health remains unknown as the details were not released immediately.
Once the traumatic event had been addressed and the child rushed to the hospital, the owners of the rottweilers had to make the difficult decision on the fate of their pets. After closely consulting with the Rennselaer County Health Department, it was decided that for public safety reasons, the dogs would need to be euthanized. Post this unfortunate yet necessary decision, the dogs were set to be tested for potential rabies exposure.
The heartbreaking ordeal not only impacted the immediate family but left the community at large in shock, as indicated by Sgt. Hudson who said, ‘This is an incredibly emotional incident for the family and everyone involved. Our prayers are with the victim and we anticipate a speedy recovery from this traumatic encounter.’
Upon the initial handling of the crisis, there are still numerous questions to be addressed, prompting an ongoing investigation of the incident. The Hoosick Falls investigative team is working in coordination with several agencies like the health department, animal control, and the Rennselaer County District Attorney’s Office.
Tragically, this is the second such incident in the area in as many months. Rolling back just a little over a month, another heartbreaking dog attack scenario had unfolded involving a baby in Western New York. The victim in this case, a little infant named Sulamain Hawkins Jr., was only three months old when he was viciously attacked, with at least one of his family’s dogs inside a Rochester home on August 3rd being the perpetrator, as concluded by the police.
In the aftermath of this horrible incident, the parents of Sulamain, identified as Sulamain Hawkins and Anastasia Weaver, faced serious legal consequences. They were charged with manslaughter. In a similar move to the recent case, the dogs from this family were also euthanized in the wake of the fatal attack.