A 5-year-old girl died after she was attacked by two of her family’s dogs in a backyard in an unincorporated county area near Covina on Sunday, Dec. 8.
Investigators were told there were no prior incidents involving the dogs and that the girl grew up with them, sheriff’s Lt. Steve De Jong said.
It happened in a gated community in the 2500 block of Palomino Drive and was reported to authorities around noon. The father, divorced from the girl’s mother, lives there, the lieutenant said.
The girl and her father were in the backyard along with the four family dogs, De Jong said: a 10-year-old rottweiler, a 6-year-old rottweiler/Weimaraner mix, a 10-year-old Weimaraner and a 4-year-old Doberman.
“She fell. They (the rottweiler and rottweiler mix) immediately started attacking her,” De Jong said, adding the father dove on top of the child. “The father was trying to protect her and shield her from the dogs.”
The other two dogs weren’t involved in the attack.
The man started yelling for help. Other residents of the home went to their aid. Someone called authorities, and firefighters arrived.
The girl was taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center with injuries to her upper torso and head, De Jong said, but she died.
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The medical examiner’s office had not yet publicly identified her.
It wasn’t clear if the father was injured.
Los Angeles County Animal Care & Control never went to the property before this incident, said Christopher Valles, animal control manager.
Animal Care & Control took the four dogs on Sunday. They will be in quarantine for 10 days, Valles said.
After quarantine, a hearing may be held if the owner wants the dogs back, he added.
The department’s investigation is ongoing.
Due to the nature of the case, he said, the department isn’t disclosing if the dogs were still at Baldwin Park Animal Care Center.