3-Month-Old Baby Dies After Being Mauled By Dog

A 3-month-old baby in a village in Ireland's County Waterford died early Monday after she was attacked and fatally injured by a dog at her home, authorities said.

The infant girl was in bed in a terraced house in Clashmore when the animal went upstairs at approximately 2 a.m. and attacked her, The Irish Times reported.

The girl was identified by the Irish Examiner as Mia O'Connell, whose parents Rhys O'Connell and Ella Wood got engaged last New Year's Eve. It was not indicated whether the dog was owned by the family or what caused the dog to attack the baby.

Emergency medical personnel treated the child's injuries at the scene before she was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later, Garda Síochána (Irish police) said in a statement.

A postmortem was scheduled to be carried out Monday.

Police in the nearby town of Dungarvan said they are investigating the incident, and the scene at the house has been preserved for examination.

It was unclear what happened to the animal after the attack.

The child's mother, who is in her 20s, had reportedly moved to the area relatively recently, while the father, 32, was originally from the nearby town of Youghal.

"This is a very unusual thing to happen. The family are new in to Clashmore," Waterford Independent councilor Seamus O’Donnell, from Old Parish in Dungarvan, was quoted by Irish Times as saying.

"Clashmore is a very close-knit, rural town, it's a lovely place. The whole of west Waterford is shocked this morning," O’Donnell told Sunday World.

Damien Geoghegan, city and council mayor for Waterford, said the town was left "devastated" by the news of the incident.

"People are very shocked. It’s very upsetting, on a bank holiday morning to hear such tragic news from Clashmore," Geoghegan said.

He added, "Everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with the family of the little child involved."

Police, meanwhile, have appealed to the media and public to respect the privacy of the family at this time, according to the police statement.