KENNESAW - A 23-month-old girl died Thursday after being mauled by her family's two young dogs after she awakened from a nap and got into the backyard, police said. <br>
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Police said the child's mother and her aunt also had laid down to rest when the toddler managed to open the door. <br>
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``We're not really sure what transpired when she got out into the backyard,'' Detective Craig Chandler said. <br>
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Police did not know if the dogs attacked the girl or were just playing too rough with her, biting her around the neck, Chandler said. <br>
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He said family has had the two Rottweiler-type dogs for about two months. They were not fully grown, weighing only about 40 pounds. Full-grown Rottweilers can weigh up to 135 pounds. <br>
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Cobb County police Cpl. Dana Pierce said the dogs were turned over to Cobb County Animal Control. Once the investigation is completed, a decision will be made whether to have them destroyed. <br>
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The death was the second in two days of a metro Atlanta toddler who wandered from a house. A 2-year-old boy got into a busy highway in Clayton County south of Atlanta shortly before dawn Wednesday and was struck and killed by rush-hour traffic. <br>
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In another case, a 3-year-old boy who wandered out of the family home in Powder Springs and was struck by a sport utility vehicle Tuesday was in stable condition after brain surgery. <br>
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Powder Springs is northwest of Atlanta, and Kennesaw is north of Marietta.
