Man Stabs Two Dogs to Death to Protect Baby Following Fatal Mauling

A man stabbed two dogs to death to protect his 11-month-old baby after they had just mauled a teenage girl in an attack that turned out to be fatal.

The Argentine man, named in the local press as Maximiliano, killed the two Dogo Argentino dogs after they entered his home in the city of Cordoba following the attack on the 15-year-old girl, named only as Trinidad, at about noon on Sunday, July 9, according to local outlet TN.

Maximiliano told TN he then grabbed a knife to defend his baby and other family members, and that his own dogs also tried to help.

"One of my dogs came out to get him and got into my living room," he said. "I had to stab the dogs more than 11 times. I stabbed one of them and he left.

"I stabbed the other and he followed me. He wouldn't let go of me and chased me. One knife was bent at me and I had to look for another one."

He added: "When one of the dogs gets into the living room, I keep hitting him. The dog started running in circles until I stabbed him one last time."

According to the vet organization Texas West Animal Health, the Dogo Argentino is descended from an old fighting dog with origins in Spain.

It says: "The Dogo's notoriously fierce temperament has put it on the list of banned dogs in Britain. It is, however, legal to own them in the United States and they are becoming popular for guard work and probably illegal dog fighting."

Maximiliano said the pair he encountered were very aggressive, and he praised his dogs for fighting the pair.

He told TN: "I am grateful that my dogs fought them because half a block away there were six children playing. It would have been a massacre. If I didn't stop them there, where would we stop them? I'm sure I would do it again."

Trinidad ultimately succumbed to the injuries she sustained in the attack on Monday, July 10.

While Newsweek was unable to find any Argentine statistics about the number of fatal dog attacks in the country, dozens of people have been killed by dogs in the U.S. in the past year.

According to Dog's Bite, which records the number of fatal dog attacks across the country, there were 54 deadly incidents recorded across the U.S. in 2022.

It added: "The most controversial aspect in 2022 is that authorities did not release breed information in one-third of all cases."

Newsweek has contacted Cordoba police via its website for comment.