UNITED KINGDOM -- A seven-year-old girl was mauled by a rottweiler just weeks after the same dog attacked a man.
Isabel-Rose Cottrell is now permanently scarred just above her knee after she was bitten by the dog near her home in Billinghay.
Two months before, the dog attacked Philip Cash, who also lives in the village.
The owner of the rottweiler, Stephen Hornsey, 47, of Fen Road, Billinghay, appeared at Lincoln Magistrates' Court and pleaded guilty to two charges of owning a dog that was dangerously out of control in a public place.
He was given a three-month suspended prison sentence and has been banned from owning dogs for ten years.
Now, Isabel's parents, Steven and Donna Cottrell, are calling for a change in the way police respond to dog attacks.
They say the dog should have been impounded or muzzled when out in public after the first attack on Mr Cash.
Mr Cottrell said: "We wish that the police had more powers to be more responsive to dog attacks, even if that means confiscating the dog and keeping it somewhere until they find out what has happened.
"Izzy was walking home from school with her sister and Donna. They saw Mr Hornsey approach with his dogs.
"Mr Hornsey told the dogs to sit, but the rottweiler lunged at Izzy and it repeatedly latched on to her thigh. He couldn't pull the dog off her. There was no warning growl or anything. It was so silent and quick.
"She still has terrible nightmares and seriously struggles when we are out or when she comes into contact with strange dogs."
The dog, which has been rehomed, must now be muzzled at all times in public and kept in a locked garden, or face being destroyed. But Isabel's parents say they are scared someone else will have to face the same horror that they went through and that the dog should have been put down.
Mr Cottrell said: "What it did to Izzy was shocking and everyone needs to be aware of what that dog has done and what it is capable of.
"Wherever it has been rehomed to, there could be neighbours with children or grandchildren who know nothing about it."
Police can recommend that a dangerous dog be destroyed, but it is up to the courts to make the decision.
Lincolnshire Police spokesman James Newall said: "After the first report involving this dog, officers did take the appropriate action and summonsed the owner to court.
"Unfortunately, before that court date, another attack took place but officers are satisfied that they did all they could."
(Lincolnshire Echo - April 13, 2012)
