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An inquest heard the case of a seven-month-old infant who was mauled to death by her family’s pet dog after she allegedly “leant” on it while crawling on the floor of the living room.
An internal security camera filmed the attack that “transpired within a second or less” when Belgian Malinois Zeus bit Elle Doherty on the back of her head.
The 35 kg (4st 12 oz) dog had needed behaviorist sessions two years prior, but the coroner heard that it had never before shown any signs of hostility. The court heard that in the days leading up to the catastrophe, the expert had been approached once again regarding the dog’s behavior.
During the inquest this morning, a number of still images from the security camera in the family’s Coventry, West Midlands, home’s living room were exhibited. They showed Elle’s parents, Natasha and Sean Doherty, sitting on a sofa and watching TV as the baby sat on the floor and gazed out the patio window.
The dog was then seen following Mrs. Doherty, 39, into the kitchen before she returned with a carrier bag that the dog seemed “fixated with.”
The dog showed no interest in the infant as Elle approached it; instead, it kept staring at the red bag. Then, the next CCTV still showed Mrs. Doherty kneeling over the dog while her 37-year-old husband, Sean, jumped up.
After that, Mr. Doherty pulled the dog into the kitchen while his wife held their bleeding toddler.
An internal security camera filmed the attack that “transpired within a second or less” when Belgian Malinois Zeus bit Elle Doherty in the back of her skull.
Mr. Doherty told authorities that his daughter had been “mobile from an early age” and had started “rolling around” when she was three or four months old. A month before to her death in June of last year, she started to crawl around unassisted, according to the Coventry Coroner’s Court.
Mr. Doherty described the situation as follows: “Then Tash yelled ‘No!’ while the baby was playing, and the couple was ‘just chatting’ while Mrs. Doherty was choosing which of Elle’s toys to take to a charity shop.”
“I jumped up and thought it was Archie, his mother-in-law’s French bulldog, who they were cuddling,” he continued. I had no idea it was Elle.
Taking him by the collar, I threw him outside. Elle was crying and had blood oozing from her head. Zeus didn’t even approach her; everything occurred so fast.
The court heard that after being transferred to the hospital, Elle was declared dead around an hour later.
A dog attack-related head injury was listed as the cause of death.
After the June 16 attack, Zeus was put down after being sedated in the backyard by a police dog handler and transferred to a veterinarian. The breed of Belgian Malinois is not considered dangerous.
According to Mrs. Doherty’s statement, which was delivered before coroner Delroy Henry, the pair hired a dog trainer to assist them during the first six months of Zeus’s life. In 2022, however, they brought in a behaviorist, who claimed that the dog thought he was the “alpha” (male) of the family, for a few sessions until the dog’s behavior improved.
To her, Zeus was’reactive’ and had ‘nipped’ her many months before. “We were taught to demonstrate that we were the alphas in the house, not the dog,” she claimed. “If we get his behavior right inside the house, it would transfer outside,” she continued. It was effective.
She claimed that when Elle was born, the dog showed “no interest” in her and was okay with other people. In the weeks preceding the incident, however, the court was informed that Mrs. Doherty called the behaviorist once again after she became “concerned” after learning that the dog had “really barked” at her stepmother while she was out having a manicure.
Despite medical professionals’ best efforts, she passed away in the hospital after suffering severe head injuries. Shorncliffe Road in Coventry is shown in the picture + 3 View gallery
Despite medical professionals’ best efforts, she passed away in the hospital after suffering severe head injuries. Pictured: Coventry’s Shorncliffe Road
Mrs. Doherty stated: “We called the behaviorist because I didn’t want anything to happen, but he left when we returned from our vacation, so he didn’t have a chance to see Zeus before it happened.”
Zeus, according to Mr. Doherty, was a “big dog, but there was no malice.” He claimed that although the dog barked loudly, he never attacked people.
He claimed the eight-week-old puppy, purchased from a Gloucester breeder in October 2020, got along well with both people and other dogs. However, he went on to say that the one thing he disliked was being taken by surprise by another dog. Though he never bit or did anything else, he would begin to bark.
According to him, Zeus’s behavior remained the same when they had Elle, and the dog would “move out of the way” if the infant occurred to bump into him while she was using her walker.
Detective Inspector Anthony Hibbert told Coventry Coroner Delroy Henry, after reviewing the CCTV stills, “It looks like Baby Elle may have leant on Zeus and that’s when Zeus attacks Baby Elle.”
There was ‘no element of criminality’ in the incident involving the baby’s parents, he informed the court.
Mr. Henry concluded the story by stating that Zeus had “no signs of aggression to Baby Elle or indeed the other occupants of the house.” When Baby Elle brushed against him, he claimed the puppy was “preoccupied with the contents of the bag.” The dog actually bit Baby Elle’s head, and the puncture wounds resulted in severe hemorrhage and cardiac arrest, in my opinion.
He claimed that a large dog’s “sudden and unexpected behavior in the family home” was the cause of the tragedy.
Mr. and Mrs. Doherty were not present at the hearing today. According to Mr. Henry, their lives had been “changed forever.”
The incident occurred after a ban on XL Bully dogs was implemented in February of last year in response to a string of horrific attacks that left victims dead or gravely injured.
