The animal sunk its teeth into two-year-old Destiny Henry-Khan's face as she played on a roundabout in a park in Birmingham last Saturday.
Destiny has had to have plastic surgery to repair her face but may suffer permanent nerve damage and be scarred for life.
The toddler is lucky to be alive after the attack by the mongrel which leapt a fence before ripping a U-shape wound from her mouth to her cheek.
Family friends bravely fought off the violent dog which eventually fled and it is yet to be found.
Destiny was rushed to Birmingham Children’s Hospital after the vicious attack where she underwent a two-hour operation to sew her face back together. She returned to her Northfield home on Tuesday.
The dog has been described as a large, brown cross-breed.
Mother Lauren Henry, 21, received the horrifying news from friends who were looking after her daughter while she was Christmas shopping in the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham.
She said: ‘She was playing on the roundabout and the dog just jumped on her face, ripping it from the mouth to the cheek.
‘There was blood everywhere. I thought her nose had gone. Just an inch lower and Destiny would not have survived. She is lucky to have escaped with her life.
‘I have only ever left her with friends three times and this was the third time, but there was nothing anyone could do. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
‘My friend said she turned her back on Destiny for just a moment and heard a dog fighting. She turned round to see the dog on Destiny’s face.
‘When they phoned to tell me, I rushed to hospital fearing the worst. My heart was pounding so fast.
‘I was absolutely devastated because she is such a beautiful girl.
‘At first Destiny was heartbroken, but the nurses were so good to her. I can’t fault them. She is now back to her normal self and that is down to them.'
Today, family friend Hannah Warrilow told how she watched as the powerful mongrel pinned Destiny to the ground before savaging the toddler's face.
The 21-year-old nursery nurse said: ‘I was sitting in the park while Destiny played in the playground and she called out for her juice. So as I turned round to get her a drink from my bag I heard this thing growling.
‘I then turned around to see this huge dog on top of her pinning her to the ground chewing at her face. It completely came out of the blue, it all happened in seconds.
‘I started screaming and my boyfriend Rickey came running over and gave the dog a couple of kicks and it let go of Destiny and ran off.
‘She was just lying there crying so I just scooped her up and put her in the car and drove her to hospital.
‘Her little face was just pouring with blood - it was all over my clothes and my car. It was terrifying. She cried all the way to hospital until she saw the nurses. Every time she touched it and it hurt and she could see the blood she was in hysterics but she calmed down eventually. She was a very brave girl.’
One of the friends supervising Destiny bravely fought off the animal, kicking it repeatedly.
Police are now conducting door-to-door enquiries to try to trace the mongrel and its owner.
A West Midlands Police spokeswoman confirmed that neither the dog or its owner have been located.
(Daily Mail UK - Nov 22, 2012)
