FRANCE -- A young girl has been savagely attacked by her new bull terrier, which was offered for adoption by an animal refuge despite having eaten its previous owner.
Four-year-old Carmen was playing with Prince at home in Boulogne-sur-Mer on Saturday night when he snapped, tearing at her nose and an ear.
She was taken to hospital with severe facial injuries. Her condition is not said to be life-threatening.
The family had adopted the dog a week earlier from an animal refuge.
Prince was admitted there last autumn after his owner died at home alone and was not found for a fortnight, by which time the terrier had started to eat the corpse.
Animal welfare charity SPA, which ran the refuge, said Prince was not considered to be a dangerous dog and his actions following his owner's death were an "understandable" survival method.
Local newspaper La Voix du Nord says the dog should have been put down and never offered for adoption to a family with a small child. SPA insists that it did not hide any information about the dog's past from the new owners.
(The Connection - July 18, 2011)
