Autopsy determines cause of death for baby mauled by family dog
SAN DIEGO -- An autopsy has found a 3-day-old California boy mauled to death by the family dog died from bites to his head.
The autopsy, released Monday by San Diego County's medical examiner, also ruled the death of 3-day-old Sebastian Caban an accident.
CBS affiliate KFMB reported police said the parents were in bed watching TV with their newborn son and dog around 8 p.m. Thursday night when the mother coughed. The coughing startled the dog and it unexpectedly bit the baby, Sgt. Tu Nguyen said.
He said the parents pulled the animal off and took their only child to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"At this time, we're looking at this as nothing more than a tragic incident," said Nguyen, a member of the child abuse unit.
San Diego police say the couple made two unsuccessful 911 calls before getting frustrated and taking him to the hospital themselves.
Police Lt. Scott Wahl told KNSD-TV Saturday that the parents waited 28 seconds before hanging up their first call, then tried again and waited 34 seconds before giving up.
Police say the family has their condolences and they too are frustrated by slow 911 response times. They say their operators are understaffed and that 73 calls came in during the half-hour span when the parents called.
The 2-year-old dog is a neutered male American Staffordshire terrier-mix named Polo. He'll be held in quarantine for 10 days before the owners must decide whether to reclaim him.