Mikaela Flanigan had puncture wounds to both legs, and several cuts and bruises when she was attacked by the dog on Bickner Way about 4pm on Saturday.
Her mother Melissa Park was also bitten when she went to her daughter's aid.
Mrs Park said she was watching Mikaela and her five-year-old son Tyler walk down the street to meet an ice-cream van when the dog escaped from a neighbour's yard and attacked Mikaela.
"I just, sort of, froze and was screaming for someone to help," she said.
Neighbour Gillian Ferguson said she saw the dog run across the road and bite Mikaela.
"The little girl started to scream," she said. "Every time the dog bit her she stood up, but the dog was just so heavy, it kept pulling her to the ground.
Mrs Ferguson said both she and her son-in-law ran to help.
"Then we witnessed the dad coming around the corner and he was able to get the dog off the girl," she said. "He was carrying the little girl home.
"(The dog) ran up to the top of the driveway as though it was going to go home, next thing it latched on to the mother's leg.
"My son-in-law actually jumped on top of the dog, prized it's jaws apart with his hands and had the dog down on the ground."
Mikaela and her mother were treated at Rockingham Hospital and later discharged.
Mrs Park said Mikaela, a Year 7 pupil at Calista Primary School, is disappointed she cannot take part in an upcoming intersports carnival.
"She also has to use crutches, which she finds quite difficult and she says it is boring. She just wants to get back to her sports."
Mikaela has also since developed a fear of dogs and is afraid of another attack, she said.
Mrs Park has said she will pursue personal legal action against the dog’s owner if her daughter is unable to continue her sporting activities due to the injury.
Both Mrs Park and Mikaela said they wanted the dog, currently being kept at the Kwinana Town Council pound, to be put down. Town of Kwinana mayor Carol Adams said the owner of the pit bill had voluntarily surrendered the animal to the pound.
(The West Australian - Oct 24, 2011)
