A father from Iowa died over the weekend after he tried to stop an aggressive dog from attacking his 5-year-old daughter. The dog was so fierce that officers had to shoot the animal to stop it from attacking the man, police said.
Robert Joseph Quick was brutally attacked when he tried to protect his daughter, who was being mauled by the dog.
Police said in a statement they found a large dog attacking the 33-year-old father, who was lying on his back in the front yard of a home in Fort Madison.
“The dog was very aggressive and would not release the man,” police said in the statement. They added that officers on the scene had to shoot the dog for it to stop attacking him.
The dog, whose breed was not disclosed, did not belong to either of its victims, but it was being kept by those who were staying at the house for a family member, police said.
When emergency crew arrived they found Quick “lying in the doorway suffering from the dog attack.”
“Mr. Quick requested the Officers help his daughter, age five, who had been bitten in the face by the dog,” the police statement read. “Mr. Quick had defended his daughter and undoubtedly saved her life by his actions.”
The little girl survived. But her father was pronounced dead at Fort Madison Hospital ER, despite “tremendous efforts to save his life” by first responders and medical staff at the hospital.
According to a GoFundMe page set up to help with funeral expenses, Quick had suffered a heart attack on the scene and first responders could not revive him.
But the police statement on June 1 said the exact cause of Quick’s death was unclear and the case is still under investigation. Autopsy results are pending.
One person posted on the GoFundMe page praising Quick’s actions.
“I have a 6yr old daughter, and I can’t imagine watching her being attacked,” Bradley Hickey wrote.
“I’d do anything for her, and I know this man was the same way. RIP to a good man and a brave father.”
According to a local obituary, Quick is survived by his wife and their four children.
Pack of Dogs Maul Teen to Death
In related news, a 14-year-old boy from Massachusetts was mauled to death last month by a pack of dogs that he was watching.
Ryan Hazel’s body was found in an enclosure that was holding the dogs in Dighton on May 9.
Family, classmates and coaches are devastated after investigators say 14-year-old Ryan Hazel was mauled to death by dogs he was caring for in Dighton #WCVB pic.twitter.com/cBatY3uyuN
— John Atwater (@AtwaterWCVB) May 10, 2019
Hazel’s grandmother had taken him to the property to take care of several dogs, which he’d done regularly for about a year. The property owner was in Boston.
The duties usually took the boy between 30 to 45 minutes, but when the boy didn’t contact the grandmother for over an hour, she called his parents, who asked a neighbor to check on him, according to NBC 10.
The neighbor found Hazel lying on the ground with “traumatic injuries” to various parts of his body.
Ryan Hazel, 14, killed when he was mauled by four dogs. Authorities say he was caring for the animals while the homeowner was out of town. It’s a job he’s been doing for about a year. @JordanMazzaTV has the latest details coming up tonight on @ABC6 at 11:00 pic.twitter.com/jYP65i9Af0
— Daniel Keith (@DKeithABC6) May 11, 2019
The neighbor found four dogs in the yard, a Belgian Malinois and three Dutch Shepherds, and put them in the basement.
Seven other dogs were elsewhere on the property. All 11 were taken by Animal Control officers. It is unclear whether they were put down.
“We had a tragic situation happen in town here where a young teenage boy lost his life. Things like that should never happen to anybody, never mind a 14-year-old boy,” said Dighton Police Chief Robert MacDonald. “It’s a very, very sad thing.”
Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
