Toddler attacked by four Rottweilers in house in upstate New York, police say

Hoosick Falls, NY – A two-year-old child was attacked by four dogs in an upstate New York home this week.

The attack, which left the child hospitalized, occurred Wednesday morning on Fourth Street in Hoosick Falls, a village about 40 minutes northeast of Troy and 10 minutes west of the Vermont border.

Four Rottweilers attacked the toddler in the child's home, Sergeant John Hudson Jr. of the Hoosick Falls Police Department told WTEN. After the child's mother noticed the attack, she took the injured toddler outside, he said.

After being treated by Hoosick City EMS and a Cambridge Valley EMS paramedic, the 2-year-old was taken to Albany Medical Center, police said in a news release.

Information about the child's condition was not immediately released.

After consulting with the Rennselaer County Health Department, the owners of the dogs – whose identities are unknown – decided to have the four Rottweilers euthanized, police said. The dogs will be tested for rabies.

“This is a very traumatic incident for the family and everyone involved,” Hudson said. “Our thoughts are with the victim and we hope for a speedy recovery from this traumatic event.”

The incident remains under investigation. Hoosick Falls investigators are consulting with the health department, animal control and the Rennselaer County District Attorney's Office.

The attack on the toddler from Hoosick Falls occurred less than a month after a baby was bitten to death in western New York State.

Sulamain Hawkins Jr. was just three months old when he was attacked by at least one of his family's two dogs in a Rochester home on Aug. 3, police said.

The baby slept with the dogs in the attic while his 19-year-old parents smoked marijuana downstairs, Rochester police said.

Sulamai's parents, Sulamain Hawkins and Anastasia Weaver, were charged with manslaughter. The family's dogs were euthanized.