The girl, named by neighbours as Rhianna, is recovering in hospital today after undergoing treatment from specialist plastic surgeons at Hull Royal Infirmary.
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| The house on Langton Drive, on the Nunsthorpe Estate, Grimsby, where a child was attacked by a dog |
As reported, she was flown there by air ambulance on Thursday following the attack in a neighbour's garden in Langton Drive, Grimsby.
An RSPCA spokeswoman said the dog was destroyed at the owner's request following the attack on the toddler as she and a group of friends played with the neighbour's two dogs, an American Akita and an Alsatian.
The Akita, which had only recently been bought by the family, was kept in a rear garden where the children were playing.
A neighbour told how Rhianna's mother Leanne Ireland grabbed her daughter from the dog which was shaking her by her head "like a rag doll".
It is also understood to have bitten straight through her hand.
The mother cradled the little girl and ran out to the front of the house shouting at neighbours to call 999.
Neighbours wrapped her in towels, as advised by East Midlands Ambulance Service's control room staff.
The Akita was later taken away from the scene by RSPCA inspectors.
An RSPCA spokeswoman said: "As the police don't have any dog liaison officers, the RSPCA was asked to attend this incident to remove and transport the dog from the location.
"The dog was later put to sleep with the owner's consent, although the RSPCA was not involved in the euthanasia."
One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "I have never seen a four-year-old as brave as her.
"I am 47 and would have been in bits. No way could I have been as brave as her. She is a very brave girl."
He added surgeons had reconnected torn tendons in her hand after it was bitten by the dog, adding: "The dog shook her around with its mouth like a rag doll.
"It has got out before and run straight across to a neighbour's garden."
Another neighbour said others living nearby had wrapped the little girl in towels to stem the bleeding.
She said: "She was covered from head to foot in blood. It is terrible."
An East Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said neighbours had been advised what first aid to provide by control room staff.
A Humberside Police spokeswoman said: "An investigation is underway to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.
"Police worked in partnership with the RSPCA, and the offending dog, thought to be an American Akita, was removed from the address and has now been destroyed."
She added the girl was expected to be allowed home from hospital soon.
(Grimsby Telegraph - August 11, 2012)
