Thursday, June 7, 2012

Schoolgirl, 7, has face mauled by Japanese Akita in another horrific dog attack which follows savaging of toddler

UNITED KINGDOM -- A young girl was left screaming in agony after her face was savagely mauled by a pet dog while she played at a friend’s house.

Shannon Rennie, seven, was attacked by the Japanese Akita called Kalo while enjoying herself at the house in Radford, Nottinghamshire.


The terrified youngster had to have more than 10 stitches to her swollen face after the dog launched itself at her in an unprovoked attack.

The attack in May follows three other dog attacks on children this month alone.

Nine-year-old Harry Dennard was left screaming in pain after a Rottweiler tore into his arm and left a gash as 'wide as an open book' in Mottingham, south London.

Rebecca Learmouth, six, of Byker, Newcastle was left clutching her bleeding face after a dog ripped into her.

Meanwhile, two-year-old Keiron Guess was left needing seven hours of surgery to rebuild his face after being savaged by a neighbour's Staffordshire bull terrier on June 3.

Shannon’s mother, Sharon Scholes, 36, was delivering leaflets around the area when she heard screaming coming from the house her daughter was playing at.

Japanese Akitas, which can weigh up to nine stone, are not classified as dangerous under the Dangerous Dogs Act, but there have been several recent cases of them attacking people.

She said: 'I ran over to the house because I knew Shannon was there - she was in the garden lying on the ground covered in blood.

'To hear your daughter scream like that is just awful, there was blood pouring from five different wounds.

'I picked her up and held her in my arms, I felt sick and couldn’t stop shaking - I nearly dropped her because I was shaking that much.

'She was really badly injured. She had bites under her eye, some skin had come off on her nose and her chin was really bad too.

'Shannon kept dosing off, I was worried she was losing too much blood, I didn’t know what was going to happen to her.'

The father of Shannon’s friend pulled the dog off Shannon after witnessing the attack by their normally placid, family pet.

Ms Scholes, a school supervisor said: 'I wanted to care for my poor daughter and make everything okay but it was hard to be in the same room as her and see her horrific injuries.'

Harry Dennard

Police seized the Akita at the time of the attack, and will hold the dog until a decision has been made on whether it should be destroyed.

The owners of the dog have not made any contact to check how Shannon is, nor apologised for what the damage their pet caused, it has been claimed.

Shannon has been left with a swollen and bruised face, even a month after the attack, and has a large scar under her eye.

The youngster's family said she had never seen her father, Karl Rennie, cry before until he saw her lying in a hospital bed. The decorator, 36, said: 'When I saw her, I just broke down.

'It made me feel sick what had happened to her - I was by her bedside everyday while she was in hospital. Whenever I see a dog now, I’m really wary now I know first-hand what they are capable of.

'I think it’s really disrespectful that the family haven’t taken any responsibility for their dog or apologised to Shannon for what it did to her. Shannon is so fragile but we have just got to appreciate that it wasn’t any worse and that’s still with us today.'

As the incident happened on private property, no criminal prosecution can be made against the owner - something which angers Ms Scholes.


She said: 'It has upset me - the injuries my daughter suffered were horrific and yet apparently there’s nothing anyone can do. Something more should be done.'

Shannon’s brothers, Anton, 15, and Kieran, 13, have found it hard to see their little sister so injured.

They said: 'We love her to pieces, we couldn’t believe it when we saw our little sister in so much pain. We are being far too nice to her, but we just want to look after her and make sure she’s alright.'

(Daily Mail UK - June 12, 2012)