Mia Jade Riley: What caused two Rottweilers to snap in Moruya dog attack

Three dog experts have revealed why two Rottweilers may have beaten and mauled a five-week-old girl to death at a family cookout, as they warn owners of aggressive breeds not to “overstimulate” their pets.

Mia Jade Riley was killed in a wild dog attack at a house in Moruya, on the south coast of New South Wales, at around 10:40pm on Saturday.

The newborn was sleeping in a bassinet at the end of a table surrounded by up to eight adults when the Rottweiler couple, who had been sleeping ten feet away, suddenly pounced on her and mauled her to death.

Friends insisted the attack came out of nowhere, but top dog trainers now say a sound or smell could have triggered the animals’ overstimulation.

K9 trainer Liarne Henry added that they could have been affected by something called “sleep startle”, which occurs when dogs wake up suddenly or unexpectedly.

The family of Mia Jade Riley (Mia pictured with her older sister) said the baby was asleep when the ferocious dog attack occurred.

The newborn was sleeping in a bassinet at the end of a table surrounded by up to eight adults when the Rottweiler pair attacked her.

“Every breed of dog has the potential to attack even its owner at that moment, because it’s a fear reaction and it takes them by surprise,” Ms Henry explained.

The trainer, who has also owned Rottweilers, said news.com.au that the phenomenon could lead to aggression in affected dogs before they realize what has happened.

“We forget that dogs have up to 300 million olfactory receptors. So they smell millions of times better than us, that could have been a trigger,” he said.

Or even the sound. Just because we can’t hear something doesn’t mean dogs can’t, because dogs have a huge frequency range of up to 60,000 hertz.

Another trainer, Mark Hickey, suggested that one dog might have become overexcited, stimulating the other.

“When you have a dog that gets really excited, the other dog can feed on that and then obviously you don’t just have one dog that has bitten a child or a person, you have two, so the damage is just going to be much worse,’ he said.

“It’s just another timely reminder that children should never be left alone. Things can happen so quickly in a couple of seconds.

Dog behavior specialist Nathan Williams also suggested that the dogs may have been overstimulated.

K9 trainer Liarne Henry said the dogs could have been affected by something called “sleep startle”, which occurs when dogs wake up suddenly or unexpectedly.

Dog behavior specialist Nathan Williams also suggested that the dogs may have been overstimulated.

“In Sydney right now there would be thousands of Rottweilers, but we heard one story that it is the exception to the rule,” Williams said.

“So unfortunately, in situations like this, dogs are often overstimulated and play with them, especially things like squeaky toys and tug of war.

“It is not in a dog’s nature to kill, no dog has that nature, and especially Rottweilers, in any case.

“But if we stimulate them, teach them to chew and bite things that they shouldn’t, then that causes these potential side effects.”

The dogs belonged to Mia’s grandfather’s neighbor, Ross Galvin, whose house the family visited for dinner.

In 2018, one of the neighbors posted a photo on Facebook of the two Rottweilers believed to have been responsible for the attack.

The image shows the black dogs sitting side by side looking at the camera, their tongues happily hanging out of their mouths.

In a tragic twist, baby Mia’s mother raved about the animals in the comments on the photo, writing: “Haha so proud.”

Before Mia’s death, the dogs had reportedly spent time with the newborn’s two-year-old older sister without a problem.

A friend said Tom and Lani Riley’s two-year-old daughter had also been around the dogs several times since she was born without incident.

Pictured: Ross Galvin, Mia’s grandfather. The little girl was mutilated by dogs during a family dinner

Mia’s grandfather, Ross Galvin, is pictured on the right. He is standing next to a neighbor. There is no suggestion that the neighbor in the photo is the owner of the dogs that attacked Mia.

The revival of the mysterious publication comes as Riley’s sister, Anna Zandberg, defended the young couple as “amazing parents” on Wednesday.

Her defense came in response to social media trolls who erroneously claimed that the parents had not “supervised” their daughter.

‘[The] baby was not properly supervised or it wouldn’t have happened,” one posted on Facebook.

‘If you can’t see that it’s the fault of the people responsible for taking care of the child, then it’s something that can happen again.

“People need to learn from their mistakes, not act like they’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.”

Ms Zandberg lashed out in response: ‘[Mia] she was never alone during her five short weeks on Earth. She was and is very loved and they took her before our eyes.

But the troll responded with the incorrect statement: “If she was never alone, why didn’t anyone witness the attack?”

An emotional Ms. Zandberg asked why the troll “intended to cause us pain” and clarified that the tragedy unfolded in front of several adults.

“My sister-in-law and my brother are amazing and this happened in a room with everyone there,” she said.

In another comment, Mia’s distraught aunt said: “We are grieving and traumatized and you guys are out like a lynch mob.” Is this really the world?

She said that Mia’s parents are “the most loving, dedicated and protective parents who have just experienced the most unimaginable thing that a person can.”

A family friend told Daily Mail Australia that both sides of the Mia family are “not doing very well”.

“It is simply a tragedy for everyone involved,” they said.

“Our thoughts are only with the parents and everyone involved who will be affected by this for the rest of their lives.”

A police source told Daily Mail Australia there is no indication the parents have done anything wrong and they will not be charged.

But it has come to light that several residents claim to have reported the dogs to the council months before the attack.

They said they were so afraid of the Rottweilers that they had stopped walking the property where they lived.

The Rottweilers were seized by Eurobodalla Shire Council following the incident. They are believed to have been euthanized.