So here is the follow up to the story about the dogs that attacked the 1-year-old child, Jiryiah Johnson.
As a warning: everyone is innocent until proven guilty; these articles are allegedly telling the whole truth clearly about the situation, or a re-reading of the articles might reveal more details, so that’s all we must go on so far; you will need to dig, do your own homework, and verify what you find if you want even more details and perspective. If you want facts, then talk to the parties involved. The child is now dead. It is not your job to pile on and somehow make the situation worse.
Here’s my preliminary perspective from the linked articles and the previous articles I've read:
1. The dogs were aggressive in some way. A previous article stated that the dogs had been somehow deemed, prior to this incident, as being dangerous by the authorities
2. The owner of the dogs, the 36-year-old babysitter, knew or suspected the dogs had behavioral problems, or there was some other reason to want the dogs kept separate from the 1-year-old child
3. The child’s mother either knew the dogs had behavioral problems or didn’t know. The linked articles seem to conflict. The first article seems to indicate there was some kind of understanding, and the second article seems to indicate the opposite.
4. There was some kind of attempt to keep the dogs the dogs away, maybe locked, from the child
5. The 36-year-old babysitter was called into work, and the child was left in the care of her 13-year-old daughter
6. The dogs were being kept in a bedroom
7. Somehow the dogs got out of the bedroom, and there might be indications the dogs had either gotten out of that bedroom before or during the incident
8. Once the dogs got out of the bedroom, they attacked the child and 13-year-old.
9. The 13-year-old fought with the dogs for several minutes, and was chased around the home by the dogs as she tried to escape with the child in her arms
10. The 36-year-old babysitter “faces felony charges of causing serious bodily injury to a child by omission.” There might be additional charges related to the injury(ies) to the 13-year-old daughter. These are grave charges.
LINKED ARTICLES
1. Mother of baby boy mauled to death by dogs opens up about attack
2. BCSO Sheriff says 1-year-old killed by dogs left alone with 13-year-old
MY THOUGHTS:
1. My sisters babysat kids at 13 years of age with no problem. I don’t think it is unreasonable for a 13-year-old to babysit a 1-year-old child.
2. There should be a clear understanding between a parent and a babysitter regarding the care of the child, and what to do if something unexpected crops up
3. Parents should interview anyone who is about to babysit their kids, including meeting anyone who would be in the home other than the babysitter who might do any of the babysitting. This could have instead resulted in a dog on dog tragedy, if these dogs had issues with other dogs and this was a dog housesitting situation instead of a child babysitting situation. I believe a lot of the ideas I have on this would seem to apply to that type of situation, as well.
4. Just like I do with a home where someone is going to house sit a dog, parents should do a walk through with the babysitter, indoors and out, to see the condition of the premises.
5. Babysitters should do an introduction of their pets with the owner and owner’s kids. If that can’t be successfully accomplished, I think that should disqualify that babysitter and the parents need to find someone else.
5. If the parents can’t find an acceptable babysitter, then don’t go to work or leave the kids there.
6. Know your dogs. Or test them in some way, if possible, but realize that sometimes tests fail to predict the future. If you own dogs with behavioral problems, especially if there are known aggression problems, then board the dogs off premises or don’t do any babysitting at your home. If the owner has dogs that have behavioral problems, especially if there are known aggression problems, then don’t agree to babysit the kids at their home, either. These dogs were put away in a bedroom for some reason.
7. From what I’m perceiving, I’m guessing that if these dogs had gotten out, and the 36-year-old babysitter had never left the premises, the dogs still might have attacked the child, and the adult babysitter would have been just as injured as the 13-year-old daughter.
8. Some dogs can break through or open normal bedroom doors. Typical suburban home doors aren’t designed to hold back a group of powerful and determined dogs, even if they start out in good condition. So, you need a proper kennel for some dogs. Some dogs can even break out of a normal kennel.
9. You are in for a major fight whenever you are dealing with a dog that wants to attack. Even your own dogs can turn on you if you are in the middle of it all. Dogs are extremely powerful when in a fight mode, and it takes a lot of force to stop them if you can’t get away. Also, in a fight like this, you aren’t going to be thinking very clearly. It isn’t fair to Monday Morning Quarterback this story and claim you know what you would have done. Your plan might have not worked either.
10. My belief is that the only thing that would have worked here would have been to not leave the child at this location under these circumstances. I don’t see indications that anyone had bad intentions.
11. The dogs should be put down. I would not attempt to rehome them. Some people would advocate the dogs going to a sanctuary. I wouldn’t do that.
12. This is now a criminal case, and nothing is going to stop the wheels of justice from rolling now.
More information is probably going to come out, and my thoughts and recommendations will probably change as a result. This isn't a fact finding article, but my walkthrough of what I'm seeing in these stories. This is a tragedy, and the purpose of reporting this is a way of informing others about how I look at something like this and how I process preventative measures someone might take in similar circumstances. Others might process this information differently and come to different views and recommendations. But, even if any of my suggestions, or any one else's suggestions, had been taken prior to this tragedy, it might still have occurred in a similar way. No way to know, we can't turn back the clock.
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