Fatal West Mifflin dog attack recalls similar 2012 McKeesport incident
The Sunday night dog-related tragedy at a house in West Mifflin shares similarities with an incident three years ago in McKeesport.
On Feb. 16, 2012, 3-day-old Howard Nicholson Jr. was mauled to death by his family's pet husky in a house along the 1700 block of Scott Street.
It was less than 24 hours after Brandy Furlong, then 21, brought her newborn home from a hospital.
McKeesport police Capt. of Detectives Tim Hanna said Furlong left the child unattended in a baby carrier tucked near a mattress. When she returned to the room she saw the dog by the baby and pulled the dog away, but not before the child had suffered severe trauma.
The newborn was pronounced dead less than two hours later at Children's Hospital of UPMC.
McKeesport animal control officer Ken Ferree identified the dog as Niko, a 1½-year-old male husky with an unknown background the family had recently acquired from another town. Ferree called the situation a ticking time bomb.
“To introduce a new dog to a new house, to three new dogs, to two new owners, to a new infant, that's asking too much of pretty much any dog,” said Ferree, who removed the husky and a pit bull from the home, though two other dogs remained.
Furlong had charges pending regarding her dogs before her newborn's death. In March 2012, she pleaded guilty before Magisterial District Judge Eugene F. Riazzi Jr. to summary charges of failing to get dog licenses or vaccinations. Those charges were filed in November 2011.
Summary charges filed in the mauling incident were withdrawn, but in June 2012 Riazzi held for court misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of children and of a dog attack causing injury or death.
Meanwhile, the husky's fate was being determined. In April 2012 Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski approved an agreement that sent Niko to an out-of-state sanctuary.
“The court is satisfied this is a just result and it protects the public, which is tantamount,” Borkowski said. “Human conduct is largely responsible for what happened and not necessarily the actions of the dog.”
In January 2013, Furlong pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor counts before Borkowski, who sentenced her to six months of house arrest followed by three years' probation on the reckless endangerment count and a consecutive two years' probation on the dog attack charge.
Furlong moved out of McKeesport after the attack.
Patrick Cloonan is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-664-9161, ext. 1967, or pcloonan@tribweb.com.
