Chloe Wisniewski, Port Charlotte, Florida mom charged with felony child neglect after leaving 3 pit bull puppy alone with her baby daughter only for the animal to bite off five fingers as the mother went upstairs.
A Florida woman has been charged with neglect after a pit bull puppy gnawed at a baby’s hand when she left her alone with the animal to take a shower, resulting in the girl losing several fingers.
The incident took place on February 14, at a Port Charlotte residence according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. Chloe Wisniewski, 21, told investigators she was feeling ill and put the little girl in her bassinet before heading to the bathroom, WBBH reported.
Wisniewski said she turned on the shower and turned it back off again when she heard the baby girl scream. According to the police report, she found the 3-month-old pit bull puppy chewing on the baby’s hands. She wrapped the baby’s hands in cloth and called 911.
‘You never leave a baby or infant alone with an animal. You just don’t!’
The police report noted Wisniewski telling police there was ‘so much blood’ that she couldn’t look at her baby daughter’s fingers.
Emergency services took the little girl to ShorePoint Health of Port Charlotte, and she was flown from there to Tampa General Hospital.
Three of the fingers on the girl’s left hand were fully amputated and two fingers on her right hand were partially amputated.
The incident left neighbors startled and in disbelief.
‘You never leave a baby or infant alone with an animal. You just don’t. Thank God the baby’s still alive,’ local woman, Kecia Godfrey said.
Mother’s story kept changing
NBC2 reports the three-month-old puppy that was just brought into the home less than 24 hours earlier after Wisniewski coming across a post for the dog on Facebook.
On Friday, June 16, deputies arrested Wisniewski, charging her with child neglect following a four-month-long investigation. Investigators in bringing charges forward said the mother kept changing stories as to why she left the baby alone with the pit bull.
The puppy was quarantined as part of protocol following a bite. The pit bull passed the quarantine and was transferred to the Animal Welfare League.
As the baby recovers with family members, Wisniewski, who posted $7,500 bond on Monday, was granted supervised visitation.
