BABY MAULED BY POMERANIAN DIES.

Byline: Marianne Love Staff Writer

VALINDA - A 5-week-old girl died after being mauled by the family's Pomeranian dog, authorities said Sunday.

A male caretaker was baby-sitting the newborn Saturday night when he went to get a bottle, said Deputy Cruz Solis, a Los Angeles Sheriff's Department spokesman.

``When he returned, he found the dog on top of the bed with the baby, and the baby's head in the dog's mouth,'' Solis said.

The child was transported to Citrus Valley Medical Center in West Covina and pronounced dead at 10:10 p.m., authorities said.

Solis said he could not release the baby's name because of her age and because authorities were still attempting to contact the parents, who were out of the country.

Some news reports indicate the caretaker was an uncle, but Solis said that was not confirmed.

Sheriff's deputies were called to the house in response to a dog fight call.

``When the deputies responded they found the baby suffering from massive head trauma,`` said Lt. Sylvia Fort of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Industry station. ``The (caretaker) beat the dog off the child and called for help.''

Fort said the dog gained access into the house from a back door and slipped in unnoticed.

Pomeranians are a breed of miniature canines that have a foxlike face, pointy ears and long, fluffy hair. The deputy said Pomeranian attacks are rare, especially compared with attacks by bigger dogs such as Rottweilers and pit bulls.

The brown unidentified Pomeranian was taken by animal control authorities.

The agency was closed Sunday, but Solis said the animal would be examined today by animal control authorities who would take the sheriff's investigation report into consideration before deciding the dog's fate.

Hoa Ho, who has lived next door to the single-family home in the working-class Valinda neighborhood for nearly four years, said he knew the dog, but never saw the child although he had heard a new baby was born there a few weeks ago.

``I've seen the dog in their back yard when I'm in my back yard. It's about this high,'' Ho said, holding his hand about 10 inches from the sidewalk.

Ho said he didn't know too much else about the dog, but that is seemed friendly.

Other neighbors knew very little about the family or the dog.

One neighbor said the dog bit her daughter's nose and cheekbone area last year as the child and her siblings and friends were playing in the front yard.

``I took my daughter to the hospital,`' said Gloria Martinez about her daughter, Jessica, now 4.

Martinez said her daughter did not receive any stitches, nor did she file a police report. She also said that at the time she didn't know where the dog came from, but as the months went by she noticed the Pomeranian behind the fence of the house where the infant died.

Brian Gonzalez, 11, who lives two doors west, said the dog is always barking when he passes the house on his way home, while Antonia Vega, who lives directly across the street, viewed the dog differently.

``It's a very nice dog,'' Vega said about the Pomeranian she has played with on occasion in her neighbor's front yard.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.