Baby was pulled out of Moses basket and mauled to death by family’s rescue dog

Mia O’Connell, from Co. Waterford in Ireland, was dragged out of her cot by the family’s rescue terrier dachshund cross, called Red, in June 2021.

She was found by her aunt Emily Wood ‘who screamed’ when she walked into her niece’s room to see the baby on the floor covered in blood with Red standing over her, the Irish Daily Mail reports.

The inquest heard baby Mia’s parents – Rhys O’Connell and Ella Wood – were ‘ecstatic’ at the birth of their daughter and have been left heartbroken over her death.

Emily said: ‘I could see Mia on the ground in the middle of the room, between the bed and the Moses basket. The dog was standing behind her as he had already done it. There was blood all over the dog’s mouth.

‘My first reaction was to scream out for [Mia’s mum] Ella. I picked Mia up straight away. There was a pink and white muslin cloth on the single bed that I grabbed straight away and put it to the back of the head to stop the bleeding.

‘Mia was wearing a vest and a baby grow when I found her. I can’t remember seeing any tears or rips on her clothes. I just remember the blood on her head and on the floor.’

Mia’s grandma Noreen began CPR and called an ambulance.

Ella told the Gardaí: ‘I had never heard her scream like that before. When I got upstairs I could see Emily on the landing, she was holding my baby, my Mia, in her arms.

‘I could see blood down one side of Mia’s face, on the back of her head and on her clothes. I could not fully see the back of Mia’s head as Emily was holding a muslin cloth to her head.

‘Emily said, “it was the dog, it was the dog.” I could see the dog’s face was covered in blood. Noreen started doing CPR. Mia was still bleeding. I was in shock. I froze.’

She died hours later at Cork University Hospital.

Source of data and images: metro