An attack by two pit bulls killed a 15-month-old baby this Monday in southern Italy.

According to press reports, the boy was on his mother's lap when, on leaving the house, the dogs snatched him out of her hands and attacked him.

However, one of the child's aunts said she didn't know if the child was "in his mother's arms or in someone else's", because at first it was said that he was with an uncle.

"My two brothers were also at home, maybe he was in the arms of one of them," he said, indicating that the dogs didn't know the child and that they belonged to a family friend.

The mayor of Eboli, Mario Conte, said that the town's veterinary services had taken away the dogs, which "were not the property of the affected family".

The Salerno public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the events.

Italy's main consumer protection association has spoken out on the case, demanding "the adoption of measures to guarantee the safety of citizens and limit the phenomenon of potentially dangerous dogs".

"Beyond the specific case and the dynamics that led to the attack (...) there is no doubt that there are breeds of dogs that are potentially dangerous to humans," Codacons said in a statement.

Since 2009, Italy has not had an official list of potentially dangerous dogs and, after 2013, the last year in which legislation was passed on the subject, the owner is held civilly and criminally liable for damage or injuries caused to third parties, as well as for the animal's upbringing.

In Italy, there are 70,000 dog attacks on people every year, according to Codacons, which states that, "regardless of the education given to the animal, it is universally known that some breeds can cause lethal wounds in the event of bites".

The organization has therefore requested a "compulsory license" to own potentially dangerous dogs, since "the bite of a Pomeranian does not cause the same wounds" as a pit bull.

The International Organization for the Protection of Animals (OIPA) also asked, in a statement, to "regulate the ownership of certain types of dogs that are often chosen by people who don't know how to keep them properly".

"At local level, some municipalities, such as Milan, have regulated the issue by granting licenses to own certain breeds," the OIPA recalled.