The Jack Russell dog which bit a 9-month-old Dunedin girl has been destroyed.
Dunedin City Council senior animal control officer Peter Hanlin said the family had the "wee dog humanely euthanised" yesterday.
Sergeant Nathan White, of Dunedin, said the 9-month-old girl received a wound below the eye and one in the gums when bitten by the dog on Wednesday.
A Southern District Health Board spokeswoman said the girl was discharged from Dunedin Hospital yesterday.
Dunedin City Council senior animal control officer Peter Hanlin said the "family pet'' would be destroyed at its owners' request.
If the owners had not "taken the responsible option and dealt with the matter themselves'' the council would have had to "take a more proactive response''.
The council would not be taking any action against the owners.
The dog was one of two living at the property.
Both dogs were registered and before the incident had a clean record with the council.
He was unsure as to why the dog bit the baby.
"It's hard to second guess the reasoning behind its response. It could be a number of reasons.''
The dog could have bitten the baby because it was a "new addition'' to the family and the dog was being "obsessive'' or showing its "dominance'' over the baby.
Dog owners should never trust their pets, no matter how long they had owned them, or how trustworthy they had been in the past.
"Never put a child in a position where it is going to be lower than a dog's head height.
"The dog should never have the height advantage over the child, so don't put them on the floor with the child,'' Mr Hanlin warned.
