A FRANTIC mum screamed: “The dog ate my baby’s head” just moments after her
six-day-old baby was savaged to death in their family home.
Anguished Sharon John, 42, ran to her neighbours in shock after her newborn girl was found dead next to their Husky-like pet called Nisha.
Mother-of-three Sharon cried out: “I don’t know what to do. The dog ate my baby’s head.”
Tragic Eliza-Mae spent three days in an intensive care unit in hospital after she was born last week.
She had only come home at the weekend - and had spent just two nights in her nursery at the family home before her tragic death.
Mum Sharon was shaking in terror when she spoke to neighbour Patricia Punter just minutes after police were called to her home in a quiet Welsh country village at breakfast time.
Patricia, 71, said: “It was terrible — I’ve never heard anything like it. Sharon was in a state of shock and just screaming.
“She just kept on saying: “The dog ate my baby’s head. He’s blaming me for it — the baby’s gone.”
Sharon's partner Patric Mullane, 33, brought the Alaskan Malamute, named Nisha, home from a night out at the pub.
Mrs Punter said: “They’d had the dog for a few months because Pat is really soft for dogs.
“He brought it home from the pub because someone had told him they were going to get rid of it.
“Nisha was about five or six years old but looked older. I think it may have badly treated in the past.
“God only knows what has gone on in there. But Sharon was in bits — she was with a policeman and they wouldn’t let her back into the house.
“She came into my house to use the toilet and that’s when she told me what happened to the baby.
“She’d only brought the baby home in the last week. It is just awful — they loved their dogs as much as their children.”
Sharon has two other children in their terraced house in the village of Pontyberem, near Carmarthen, South Wales.
The family also have another pet dog, a terrier called Roxy, who was later being looked after by Mrs Punter.
Nisha was seized by police investigating the tragic death.
Neighbour Jennifer Brown, 66, told how she caught the dog after the attack as it wandered the street — and handed it over to police.
Mrs Brown said: “I looked outside my front window and saw the dog by the ambulance.
“The dog was just walking about and I went out and caught it and handed it to the police.
“It’s a big dog and white around the mouth — but I didn’t see anything that caught my eye to say anything had gone on.
“It walked along the pavement and I thought it was strange because people don’t normally let their dogs wander the street.
“I hadn’t seen the dog on the street before but I called it over from the ambulance.
“It came to me and I said: “Go home” but instead it went to our neighbours' porch and ate their cat’s food.
“I got it to come back out and led it down to the house where all the police were and handed it over to them.
“They put it in the back of the police car.”
Chief Inspector Ieuan Matthews at the scene said the girl was dead by the time the ambulance arrived in the quiet street.
The family went with the baby to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where they spent “some time” with her body.
Chief Insp Matthews said: “It's a really tragic incident that we're at the early stages of investigating, our hearts as individuals, and as a police service go out to the parents, the family and the wider community.
"As part of our inquiry we have taken into possession the family dog, it's an Alaskan Malamute-type dog and that is with us while inquiries continue.
"We have specially trained liaison officers helping the family through this difficult time.
"The family are hugely distressed."
Police confirmed a post mortem examination will be held to investigate the cause of death before they would confirm it was a dog attack.
The Alaskan Malamute is similar to a husky and is not a banned breed.
The Alaskan Malamute Club of the United Kingdom describes the breed as a “affectionate, friendly, loyal, devoted companion” on its website.
It says an ideal Alaskan Malamute is ’heavily boned, powerfully built’ — and also very intelligent animals, though they can be hard to train.
Neighbours said they often saw the black and white dog on a lead with the couple. They would tie it up outside a local supermarket where children would stroke it.
Ann Williams, 69, said: “It wasn’t a savage dog. It would let children pet it and it was a very attractive animal.”
But another neighbour said the dog had escaped the night before because a nearby bitch was in season.
He said: “Another neighbour found it and took it home. Perhaps the dog was feeling wound up.”
Alan Lewis, chairman of Pontyberem Community Council said: “We are just horrified with what’s happened and our thoughts go out to the family involved.”
He said Pontyberem was a small, quiet village where “everybody looks out for each other”.
The village, population 2,700, was in a state of shock at the tragedy.
Fellow community councillor Alban Rees, said: “This is a young family and a young life has been lost.
“This is the first time I’ve come across anything like this. But the community will be extremely supportive and do anything to help the family involved.”
Anguished Sharon John, 42, ran to her neighbours in shock after her newborn girl was found dead next to their Husky-like pet called Nisha.
Mother-of-three Sharon cried out: “I don’t know what to do. The dog ate my baby’s head.”
Tragic Eliza-Mae spent three days in an intensive care unit in hospital after she was born last week.
She had only come home at the weekend - and had spent just two nights in her nursery at the family home before her tragic death.
Mum Sharon was shaking in terror when she spoke to neighbour Patricia Punter just minutes after police were called to her home in a quiet Welsh country village at breakfast time.
Patricia, 71, said: “It was terrible — I’ve never heard anything like it. Sharon was in a state of shock and just screaming.
“She just kept on saying: “The dog ate my baby’s head. He’s blaming me for it — the baby’s gone.”
Sharon's partner Patric Mullane, 33, brought the Alaskan Malamute, named Nisha, home from a night out at the pub.
Mrs Punter said: “They’d had the dog for a few months because Pat is really soft for dogs.
“He brought it home from the pub because someone had told him they were going to get rid of it.
“Nisha was about five or six years old but looked older. I think it may have badly treated in the past.
“God only knows what has gone on in there. But Sharon was in bits — she was with a policeman and they wouldn’t let her back into the house.
“She came into my house to use the toilet and that’s when she told me what happened to the baby.
“She’d only brought the baby home in the last week. It is just awful — they loved their dogs as much as their children.”
Sharon has two other children in their terraced house in the village of Pontyberem, near Carmarthen, South Wales.
The family also have another pet dog, a terrier called Roxy, who was later being looked after by Mrs Punter.
Nisha was seized by police investigating the tragic death.
Neighbour Jennifer Brown, 66, told how she caught the dog after the attack as it wandered the street — and handed it over to police.
Mrs Brown said: “I looked outside my front window and saw the dog by the ambulance.
“The dog was just walking about and I went out and caught it and handed it to the police.
“It’s a big dog and white around the mouth — but I didn’t see anything that caught my eye to say anything had gone on.
“It walked along the pavement and I thought it was strange because people don’t normally let their dogs wander the street.
“I hadn’t seen the dog on the street before but I called it over from the ambulance.
“It came to me and I said: “Go home” but instead it went to our neighbours' porch and ate their cat’s food.
“I got it to come back out and led it down to the house where all the police were and handed it over to them.
“They put it in the back of the police car.”
Chief Inspector Ieuan Matthews at the scene said the girl was dead by the time the ambulance arrived in the quiet street.
The family went with the baby to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff where they spent “some time” with her body.
Chief Insp Matthews said: “It's a really tragic incident that we're at the early stages of investigating, our hearts as individuals, and as a police service go out to the parents, the family and the wider community.
"As part of our inquiry we have taken into possession the family dog, it's an Alaskan Malamute-type dog and that is with us while inquiries continue.
"We have specially trained liaison officers helping the family through this difficult time.
"The family are hugely distressed."
Police confirmed a post mortem examination will be held to investigate the cause of death before they would confirm it was a dog attack.
The Alaskan Malamute is similar to a husky and is not a banned breed.
The Alaskan Malamute Club of the United Kingdom describes the breed as a “affectionate, friendly, loyal, devoted companion” on its website.
It says an ideal Alaskan Malamute is ’heavily boned, powerfully built’ — and also very intelligent animals, though they can be hard to train.
Neighbours said they often saw the black and white dog on a lead with the couple. They would tie it up outside a local supermarket where children would stroke it.
Ann Williams, 69, said: “It wasn’t a savage dog. It would let children pet it and it was a very attractive animal.”
But another neighbour said the dog had escaped the night before because a nearby bitch was in season.
He said: “Another neighbour found it and took it home. Perhaps the dog was feeling wound up.”
Alan Lewis, chairman of Pontyberem Community Council said: “We are just horrified with what’s happened and our thoughts go out to the family involved.”
He said Pontyberem was a small, quiet village where “everybody looks out for each other”.
The village, population 2,700, was in a state of shock at the tragedy.
Fellow community councillor Alban Rees, said: “This is a young family and a young life has been lost.
“This is the first time I’ve come across anything like this. But the community will be extremely supportive and do anything to help the family involved.”
