A young child tragically lost his life after entering a bulldog enclosure at his grandmother’s residence. The incident occurred in New York Mills, Minnesota, where three-year-old Beckett Brown sustained fatal injuries while in the outdoor dog pen. Despite being rushed to the hospital by his grandmother, Kristen Nelson, the child was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
During the attack, Kristen, aged 51, also suffered injuries while trying to intervene. Following the incident, the dog was euthanized at the family’s request as confirmed by the authorities. An ongoing investigation is being conducted into the circumstances surrounding the incident, involving a pet from the American Bulldog breed.
According to a statement from the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office, emergency services were contacted by the grandmother at 1pm on the day of the tragedy. She reported driving herself and her grandson to the emergency department due to dog bite injuries. Sheriff’s Deputies later met them at the hospital, learning that the child had accessed the enclosed area where the dog was kept.
The press release disclosed that the boy succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, while Kristen was transferred to Fargo, North Dakota for medical treatment. Notably, recent data revealed that American Bulldogs rank as the fifth deadliest breed in the US based on statistics from fatal dog attacks between 2005 and 2019.
In a separate incident in the UK, a baby required urgent surgery after being bitten on the face by the family’s American bulldog in Doncaster. The one-year-old suffered severe facial injuries during the attack, and the dog, which had previously shown aggression toward the child, is currently under assessment in a kennel.
South Yorkshire Police emphasized the importance of addressing and training dogs displaying aggressive behaviors to prevent harm, stating that dangerous dog-related incidents remain a concern in the county despite enforcement efforts to mitigate risks.