A Texas babysitter’s dogs attack toddler and teenager left alone in her care: Sheriff

A babysitter in Texas was arrested and charged with assault on a child after she reportedly left a toddler and a teenager alone in her care and the children were subsequently attacked by the caregiver’s dogs.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said a 1-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl were being cared for by Heather Rodriguez, 36, in the central Texas town of Converse. Salazar said a preliminary investigation led them to believe Rodriguez left the children alone with their four XL American bullies.

Salazar said Rodriguez left the house for unknown reasons, leaving the children in a bedroom away from the dogs because they are “known to cause harm.”

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The dogs eventually entered the bedroom by destroying a connecting bathroom door that they had previously damaged, Salazar said.

Salazar said the dogs began biting the toddler when they entered the room.

“The 13-year-old was able to maintain control of the baby, but at this point, and from what is described to me, it was almost a tug of war over the baby between at least one of the dogs and the little girl. ” said the sheriff.

The additional dogs joined the fight and the teenager spent “several minutes fighting them off,” Salazar said.

“At one point she had to break away and physically left the baby in the bathroom,” the sheriff said. She was attacked while she was grabbing her cell phone to call for help.

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A toddler and a teenager were reportedly left alone by their babysitter and attacked by their dogs. These are the stairs in babysitter Heather Rodriguez’s house. (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)

The girl called 911, took the toddler safely to another room and barricaded herself there. She had to push against the door to prevent the dogs from blocking the entrance.

Officers arrived and took control of the scene. This included giving the one-year-old child first aid before he was taken to the hospital.

“Based on what we know about the baby right now, his condition is definitely critical,” Salazar said at a news conference on Monday, according to USA Today. “I actually saw some images of the baby from our body camera video…it’s heartbreaking to see someone in that condition.”

Salazar said the baby suffered “pretty serious head injuries” and could no longer breathe normally due to damage to his neck and airway.

The sheriff said the children’s parents did not know that Rodriguez had “problematic” dogs and he believes “they would not have let (Rodriguez) care for their baby the way they did if they had known.” These dogs are unsafe.”

He added that the teenager’s quick actions likely prevented a situation that could have been much worse than it was.

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A toddler and a teenager were reportedly left alone by their babysitter and attacked by their dogs. This concerns damage to the house of babysitter Heather Rodriguez. (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)

“I have to be honest, the 13-year-old in this case, I think she’s a hero,” Salazar said. “I think their actions resulted in the baby not being subjected to further abuse or even death in this brutal dog attack.”

Child Protective Services were called to monitor the welfare of both children, particularly with regard to the physical well-being of the toddler and the mental well-being of the teenager.

Rodriguez was not only charged with assaulting a child, but also for letting her dogs run off-leash. The sheriff said it was clear two of the dogs were involved in the attack, but perhaps all were involved.

“To me, of course, any dog ​​that participated needs to be euthanized,” Salazar said. “As heartbreaking as this sounds, the life of a little baby is much more important.”

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Salazar said Rodriguez was more concerned about her dogs being taken away than the fact that two children in her care were attacked and injured by them. The dogs are now with Bexar County Animal Control, which will decide what happens to them.

“If we can find out that one or more of the dogs were not responsible, then that’s fine,” Salazar said. “Maybe these things can go back, but (Rodriguez) seemed to care more about what was going on with these dogs than the fact that their inaction (and) failures almost caused the death of a baby.”