COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Two family pets have been blamed in the death of an infant girl while her father slept close by, police in Columbus, Ohio, say.
Sgt. Steven Little of the Columbus Police Department said the dogs did not attack the girl but appeared to have played roughly with her, the Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday.
The infant, Mia Gibson, who would have been 3 months old this week, had been sleeping on the couch with her father when she apparently fell onto the floor of the living room early Tuesday.
The father, Chris Kusumi, 33, told police he did not wake up when the infant slipped off the couch.
Little said the baby had no visible signs of major trauma, but her body had several small puncture wounds apparently caused by the dogs, both Shiba Inus, a Japanese hunting dog that typically weighs between 17 and 23 pounds.
"It looks like the dogs were probably playing with the baby, thinking she was a toy," the officer said.
The baby's mother, Sabrena L. Gibson, 34, told police she was in her bedroom when one of the dogs woke her. She went into the living room where she found the injured infant.
The baby was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The dogs have been seized by animal control.
