KEMEROVO, October 2 (Itar-Tass) — Fighter dogs have bitten to death a one-year-old baby in the town of Mezhdurechensk, Kemerovo region in central Siberia.
Early information available to the police says the tragedy occurred Saturday, October 1, when the baby was left unattended in a private house and walked up close to the place where two dogs, a Straffordshire terrier and a pitbull, were kept.
Upon finding the baby's lifeless body, his grandmother committed suicide.
Kemerovo region Governor Aman Tuleyev has taken investigation of the hair-raising case under personal control and the authorities have provided material assistance to the parents of the killed baby boy.
"This country has seen of late a wave of accidents, in which dogs attacked people and such situations are especially apalling when small kids are victimized," Gov Tuleyev said. "The need for revising the legislation on the management of dogs of the fighting breeds. We must tighten the responsibility of dog owners, whose pets attack people, and even introduce criminal punishments for this."
"Fighter dogs are forbidden in a whole range of countries, and why don't we do the same?" he asked somewhat rhetorically. "We have a ban on selling and possessing guns, and fighter dogs are in no way different from weaponry."
"To keep a dog of this kind a home, an owner should obtain special permission and pass serious checks," Gov Tuleyev said.