A one-year-old girl was fatally attacked by her family’s pit bull in the split second that her mother bent down to pick up laundry.
Blakely Blosser was behind her mum, Nicole, when she began tending to laundry inside their home in Dover, Ohio. At that moment, the pit bull growled and pounced on the baby.
Nicole frantically tried to pull the dog away from Blakely, but it continued biting her throat and face.
By the time Nicole got through to a 911 dispatcher, Blakely was dead, according to Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell.
‘Her mother clearly put up a fight – she had defensive wounds trying to get the dog’s jaws open,’ Campbell told WOIO.
‘I can’t imagine a worse nightmare.’
Blakely’s family identified her and announced her death on July 2 with broken hearts.
‘Blakely brought immeasurable joy, light and love into our lives from the moment she arrived,’ states her obituary.
‘With her bright eyes, infectious giggle, deep stare, and fearless, courageous spirit, she touched the hearts of everyone who met her.’
Dispatchers could not hear anyone in Nicole’s first call that evening, and by the time she connected with them on the second try, it was too late, Campbell said.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived to find Blakely with bites all over her upper body.
‘It was about as terrible an ordeal as we’ve come across in a long time,’ Campbell said.
Nicole’s mother told Campbell that the pit bull had never attacked anyone in the past or been aggressive toward other dogs.
Blakely’s father euthanized the animal when he got home.
Prosecutors are reviewing the case, but they are not expected to bring charges.
Blakely loved playing peek-a-boo with her mum, going on tractor rides with her dad and meowing out the door with her cat, named Panther.
‘Her joyful essence shone brightest when she was playing with her brother,’ her obituary reads.
‘Their bond was pure and filled with laughter, offering moments of joy that will forever reverberate in the hearts of our family.’
A private funeral service was set to be held for Blakely.
Pit bulls were behind 66% of fatal dog attacks from 2005 to 2019, according to a report from the nonprofit DogsBite.org. That statistic has been raised by groups pushing for stricter regulations on pit bulls.
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