Chanel Porter, 10, suffered three serious puncture wounds in the unprovoked mauling in Hillborough Crescent.
Her mum, Claire, told the Gazette: “She told us that after the attack it was licking the blood off the floor – it must have bitten someone before. We think it must have been going for her neck or throat, but she turned away and it bit her arm.”
Chanel was walking with sister Leanne, 17, and a friend when she was passed by a man with a dog on a lead at about 3.40pm on Sunday, July 22.
The dog started barking before leaping onto her arm and dragging her to the ground.
The owner fled the scene after pulling the animal off the little girl.
Chanel said: “I’m scared to leave the house. I’m scared of dogs. It hurt a lot. The pain still comes back from time to time.”
Her mother spoke of her horror following the attack. She said: “Chanel came running into the house shouting ‘Mum! Mum!’ – and I could just tell something was the matter in her voice.
“Doctors were picking bits of fat from her arm and out of her hair after the attack. The biggest wound was originally stitched up but they had to take the stitches out when it became infected.”
“Chanel has never been one to go over to a dog, she’s wary of everything. She does like dogs – we bred them for 15 years – but we never had a vicious one because we brought them up properly. Imagine if this had been a toddler. We’ve been lucky.
“Houghton Regis is not a big place. People do know people. Someone must know who this man is.”
Chanel’s sister Leanne said that the dog’s head was “twice the size” of a normal Rottweiler.
The owner of the dog is described as a white man, in his mid 20s, of skinny build and wearing a white tracksuit and white cap.
The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 does not prohibit or restrict ownership of Rottweilers, but they are banned in some countries.
PC Matt Garfitt, investigating, said: “This was a terrifying attack on a young girl who was looking forward to enjoying the summer holidays with her siblings and friends.
“Instead, she has ended up with some really nasty injuries and has been left distraught by the whole incident.
“It is extremely important that we locate the owner of this dog and stop him from allowing the animal to cause further harm to anyone.”
Call Beds Police on 101 with information.
(Dunstable Today UK - August 9, 2012)
