Last Sunday, a tragedy occurred near Doncaster, South Yorkshire when a Chow-Chow crossbreed named Teddy mauled a newborn baby.
Elon Joynes was 12 days old, lying in his basket in the living room when the horrifying event took place.
The dog, who was three-feet tall, allegedly escaped his pen in the garden and jumped inside the house. He grabbed the baby in his mouth while the baby’s dad and brother witnessed the attack from outside.
Stephen Joynes, aged 35, and his young son were in the outside terraced-house. The mother, Abigail Ellis, was in the upstairs bathroom. According to Ellis’ brother, the dog was ‘probably jealous’ of the child.
“I think he was jealous when the new baby came along and all the attention he was getting. Or maybe he thought the baby was a toy, he was a tiny thing and only six pounds something when he was born.”
Ellis’ brother, who lives in Rotheram, South Yorkshire, wished anonymity. He spoke to MailOnline in an exclusive statement. He regarded the event as ‘horrible’, expressing how the family was still ‘in shock’ and processing the ‘trauma.’
He stated, “My sister’s in bits, she’s lost her baby, and her son saw it all. He’s traumatized.” While he expressed that Teddy ‘was really good around [his] sister’s other three kids’, he admitted the open-topped garden pen was too low.
Due to the dog’s size, he stated that the family was planning on building it higher. However, this plan did not come soon enough.
As of Monday, the dog has officially been put down. Moreover, Ellis and Joynes have officially been charged with manslaughter and gross negligence. Ellis’s three older children are currently with her brother.
The parents are in custody, pending further investigation. Local police have put down Teddy, the Chow-Chow.
According to Ellis’ brother, “What happened is heartbreaking. I never even got to see my new nephew.”
He continued, “It wasn’t her fault or Steve’s but simply a tragic accident and her son witnessed the attack. It will affect them all forever. They’ll never get over it.”