Moruya dog attack: Rottweilers who mauled five-week-old baby to death are put down

A pair of Rottweilers who mutilated a five-week-old baby to death were euthanized when a local council revealed residents had complained about the murderous dogs.

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 night.

The newborn had been sleeping in a bassinet at the end of a table surrounded by adults when the two Rottweilers, who had been sleeping just ten feet apart, suddenly pounced on her and mauled her to death.

On Friday, a NSW council confirmed the dogs had been euthanized.

The Eurobodalla Council can confirm that the rangers seized two dogs. The dogs were euthanized on Friday on the advice of the NSW Police,” a spokesperson said.

The local council said it had previously received complaints about the noise from the dogs, but none that the animals were dangerous.

On Friday, a NSW council confirmed that the dogs responsible for the attack had been euthanized.

“The council has no reports of dangerous or threatening dogs associated with the address,” the spokesman said.

“Barking complaints were followed up by dog ​​owners as per standard practice.”

It comes as dog experts have theorized why Rottweilers may have attacked the newborn baby.

Friends insisted the attack came out of nowhere, but top dog trainers now say a sound or smell could be a trigger to overstimulate the animals.

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

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

The trainer, who has also owned Rottweilers, said news.com.au that some dogs affected by “sleep startle” may inadvertently become aggressive.

“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.

Family friends told Daily Mail Australia that the dog’s attack was completely random. (in the photo, one of the Rottweilers that was euthanized on Friday)

K9 trainer Liarne Henry (pictured) 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 (pictured) also suggested the dogs might have been overstimulated

Another dog trainer, Mark Hickey, suggested that one of the canines may 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.

“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.”

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 (Mia’s parents pictured)

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

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 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 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.”

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.