Linzy Earles, 17, of Tulsa Oklahoma, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the July 28, 2008, death of her 2-month-old baby, Zane Earles.

The boy “was left unattended in an infant swing on the opposite side of the house for approximately two hours,” according to a police affidavit. As his mother napped, the boy “suffered multiple dog bites” and was “eaten alive,” per the affidavit.

The dog was a black Labrador puppy “that was left loose in the house [and] ate the two-month-old victim,” the police affidavit states. (Click here to read the article.)

Parents and dog owners generally need to know that dogs are not stuffed animals. Dogs have teeth and claws. There is an unacceptable risk in leaving an unsupervised dog with children. This horrific fatality is only the tip of the iceberg. As an attorney who does nothing but represent dog bite victims -- most of whom are children -- I must tell you that too many innocent children get injured by dogs because their parents are hopeful rather than cautious.

On October 31, 2008, 62-year-old Chester R. Jordan of Muncie, Indiana, was killed by three of his own pitbulls, inside his residence.

Indiana imposes strict liability on not only the owner, but also the possessor, keeper or harborer of the dog, but they are strictly liable only if the victim is a mail deliverer or other official.

Police described the scene as horrific, with obvious signs that the victim fought for his life. Interestingly, however, authorities said they wanted to refrain from saying the dogs killed the man because, in their view, he might have died of a heart attack.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has asked for a report to be drawn up on the case of a 17-year-old woman said to have been killed by her in-laws. They are alleged to have murdered her by first causing her to be mauled by dogs, and then shooting her in the head.

The autopsy confirms the gunshot but not the dog bites. However, the government has found the matter to be sufficiently suspicious that the president has ordered the report. To read the article, click here.

In the USA there has been one first degree murder conviction based on an intentional dog attack. In Cleveland, Ohio, Jeffrey David Mann was convicted of murder for setting a pit bull on the woman he lived with, a 28-year-old mother of two, who died as a result of the mauling in September 1992.

Crystal Watson and Jack Smith each have been sentenced to seven years in prison and must pay $5,000 each, following their dogs' fatal attack on Tanner Monk. (Click here to read about the sentencing.)

You can read about the death of Tanner Monk at Dangerous and Vicious Dogs on the Dog Bite Law site.

Most of the victims of serious dog attacks are children. All of these kids have mothers and fathers. When their children suffer, so do their parents -- sometimes becoming overwhelmed by it.

Recently in England, a young mother whose baby was killed went out drinking with her best friend, got in an argument with her, and the women began fighting. The mother of the deceased child grabbed scissors and began slashing at her friend, who received numerous cuts, including a serious wound on her face. When this was heard in court, it was disclosed that the mother was seriously distraught because of her baby's death, had never been offered counseling, and even the injured friend had forgiven her for the scissor attack. The defendant therefore was given supervised probation for two years with a one-year suspended sentence. (For the article, click here.)

Most of my clients are children. As I deal with their parents, I see that they have strong and often extreme feelings of grief, sadness, guilt and depression about what the dogs did to their kids. These are natural reactions but it nevertheless is heartbreaking to witness the ripple effect of a serious dog attack.

Two-month-old Iokepa Liptak, a resident of Honolulu, Hawaii, was killed by his parents' dog on October 5, 2008. He is the nation's 17th victim of a fatal dog attack. Hawaii has a dog bite statute that has been interpreted as essentially re-enacting the one bite rule.

There is a horrific trend in the fatal attacks since July 2008: 9 of the 10 victims were children (6 of whom were one year old or less), and 7 of the 9 were killed by their parents' dogs.

This awful statistic enrages me. Parents need to be realistic and careful when they pick a dog. They need to make their infants their priority when deciding whether to keep a dog.

You must be parents first and dog lovers second. We demand this of you.