A two-year-old girl who was badly bitten by one of her family’s dogs on their Norwegian farm late last week died over the weekend from her wounds. Her eight-year-old sister reportedly wanted to give the dogs some water, and the two-year-old followed her into the dogs’ fenced-off enclosure, fell onto the ground and was attacked.
Their mother was inside the family’s house at Dragsten in Selbu, Sør-Trøndelag and aware that the girls had gone outside to play. She was unaware, however, that the girls ventured into the area where the dogs were kept, and decided to talk to newspaper VG “so people can know what happened.”
“They were jumping on the trampoline just outside the door,” she told newspaper VG. “We live on a farm, and my children of course have permission to play outdoors.” The girls’ screams brought her running, and she launched into first aid treatment while ordering the older girl to call for help.
The little girl was flown by air ambulance to St Olavs Hospital in Trondheim with multiple dog bite wounds and underwent surgery, but she died early Saturday morning.
Police said the dogs raised on the farm were huskies, and that there is an active dog-sledding community around Selbu. The mother told VG the family had raised dogs for many years, and none of her children had ever gone inside the dogs’ enclosure alone before. She told VG she felt responsible and was “having a terrible time.” A crisis team was sent to the family home to help them deal with the tragedy.
The dog was seized by authorities and its fate was unclear. The mayor of Selbu told reporters the community was in mourning. “This is tragic, first and foremost for the family but also for all of Selbu,” Mayor Inga Johanne Balstad told state broadcaster NRK.
newsinenglish.no/Nina Berglund
