The family of a girl whose cheek was ripped open by a Pocket Bully is demanding to know why the animal has not been destroyed.
Five-year-old Farrah-Leigh Nichol faced further surgery this morning and her devastated parents have been told the outcome was not as successful as her consultant had expected.
As the young woman faces a long and grueling schedule of activities ahead, police revealed that the dog that mauled her outside the Nisa store on Saturday night has not been killed.
Con chó đực – một biến thể nhỏ hơn của American Bully – đang bị giam giữ trong cũi của cảnh sát cho đến khi số phận của nó được quyết định bởi các cuộc điều tra tiếp theo.
Bạn bè và gia đình của Farrah-Leigh cho rằng con chó sẽ bị đưa vào giấc ngủ sau khi gây ra những vết thương nghiêm trọng như vậy.
Con chó Pocket Bully được cho là đã tấn công Farrah-Leigh. Nó đã bị cảnh sát tạm giữ nhưng chưa bị tiêu hủy trước sự bàng hoàng của gia đình cô gái.
Khuôn mặt của Farrah-Leigh Nichol bị rách toạc trong cuộc tấn công dã man, xảy ra sau khi cậu bé 5 tuổi yêu cầu vuốt ve con chó
The youngster is now recovering in hospital but her family has been told she has a gruelling series of operations ahead of her to repair her face
But a Cleveland Police spokesman said: ‘The dog has not been destroyed and remains in the kennels as we have seized it.’
Farrah-Leigh’s mum Danielle Kemp, 32, told MailOnline: ‘It needs destroying. That dog needs killing as soon as possible and the owner needs to be prosecuted.
‘Justice needs to be served for my poor baby girl who is suffering the trauma of having to go into surgery.’
Danielle and partner Alex Nichol, 30, have been keeping a bedside vigil as their daughter undergoes skin grafts, the latest of which happened only this morning.
Danielle said: ‘She’s been down to surgery to have them fill the wound, but it’s not as clean as they were hoping, so they’ve only managed to clean it again.
‘So she’s having to have more surgery than they thought. She’s going to have to go through even more.’
Farrah-Leigh was attacked on Saturday evening outside the Nisa store in Norton Road, Stockton-on-Tees, Co Durham, close to the family home.
She asked to pat the brown and white Pocket Bully – a cross between a Pit Bull and Patterdale Terrier.
Farrah-Leigh with her own family’s dog. Her dad, Alex Nichol, said: ‘She loves dogs’
Farrah-Leigh before the incident. Her mum Danielle Kemp said she had been ‘very brave’ in the face of a series of operations
The dog that allegedly attacked Farrah-Leigh on Saturday. The owner remained at the scene following the attack and the animal was handed to police
Without warning the dog lunged and ripped open her face, leaving her cheek torn wide open.
Her father, kicked the dog away and scooped his daughter up and ran home.
Danielle said: ‘What I saw and the screams I heard will haunt me, she really didn’t deserve this.
‘I was cooking tea when Alex came running in with Farrah-Leigh.
The scene of the attack in Stockton-on-Tees on Saturday
Farrah-Leigh’s dad Alex Nichol says he would happily muzzle his three dogs if it ‘saved just one child’ from being attacked
‘Our heads are all over the place at the moment. My little girl has already had one operation and she has another two to come.
‘She has one tomorrow morning and then another in two weeks, she’s been very brave.
‘The support we have had from local people has been overwhelming, we can’t thank them enough.’
The owner of the animal waited at the scene as emergency services arrived and the dog has now been seized.
Mr Nichol, who works as a tiler, said: ‘We had gone to the shop together and she had paid for some bread at the till.
Farrah-Leigh Nichol has a long road to recovery ahead following the attack
Her father added: ‘She was crying and all her face was off. Her face was gone. It was just gruesome’
‘We came out and I pressed the button to cross the road and she said, “Can I stroke that dog?”
Dog attacks on children led to more than 1,000 surgeries last year with nearly 40% on victims under the age of four
Dog attacks left children needing surgery more than 1,000 times last year, including nearly 400 cases where the child was under the age of four.
In total, victims of all ages needed surgery after being bitten or mauled 3,473 times in 2022 – the highest number since data was first released 16 years ago.
Experts said the number of children being attacked is ‘very worrying’ but that many of the bites are ‘preventable’.
The shocking figures from NHS Digital showed that the total number of hospitalisations following dog attacks has nearly doubled from 4,699 in 2007/8 to 9,336 in 2022/3.
Dr John Tulloch, a lecturer in veterinary public health at Liverpool University, said: ‘The growth in dog bites is faster than the growth in dog population – so it can’t just be that there are more dogs.’
‘I said, “Yes, but you will have to ask the man first.”
‘She said, “Can I stroke your dog?” and he said, “Yes, no problem.”
‘She went to stroke the dog on the head. She loves dogs. She was stroking it really gently.
‘The dog jumped and she jumped back and I thought, that was lucky.
‘But then the next minute I saw her curled up on the floor and she said, “Dad”.
‘She was crying and all her face was off. Her face was gone. It was just gruesome.
‘I booted it. I stamped on it. I picked my daughter up and went back to the house.
‘She was taken to hospital and she is stable and she has had stitches. But there’s still so much to do.’
In the wake of a spate of recent dog attacks on children, Mr Nichol now believes all breeds should be muzzled.
He said: ‘We have three dogs ourselves. We have a Staffie and two XL Bullies. But I would be happy to muzzle them.
‘If all dogs were muzzled it would just take away the risk. If it saved just one child it would be worth it.
‘Always be wary of dogs you don’t know.
‘My daughter loved dogs, but this incident has obviously given her a full fear factor.
‘We’re all still in shock at the moment. We can’t believe this has happened.’
Family friend Kirsty Lavender, 32, said: ‘She’s such a brave, strong little girl, she’s kind but she still needs a skin graft to reform her face.
‘Of course her parents are very worried about her but so far she has recovered very well.’
A neighbor who lives near where the latest attack took place said: ‘The girl asked to pet the dog and it did.
‘Her dad immediately went to help and he tried to get the thing out of her hands. She did nothing to irritate it and the owner seemed happy as she patted the dog.
‘An unpredictable dog should not have been out without a muzzle.’
Dr John Tulloch, a lecturer in veterinary public health at the University of Liverpool, has previously said that the way British dogs are cared for needs to change.
‘We know dogs are now kept indoors for more than seven or eight hours and they will feel uncomfortable.
‘A lot of dogs aren’t getting their exercise needs – their health needs aren’t being met and so they’re likely to be more anxious and nervous.
‘If you keep a dog in a bad environment and they are not cared for, they will have more behavioral problems and be more likely to bite.’