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.