Mackenzie Camp has severe injuries to her head and face after a dog being looked after by her mother, Chelsi, turned on the toddler on March 31.
The attack was so harrowing that the first officers to arrive at the apartment, and the 911 dispatcher who took the call, visited the little girl in hospital to check on her progress.
Her mother was also injured in the attack, suffering bites to her arms and hands as she tried to protect her daughter.
When police arrived at their League City apartment, they found the mother and daughter cowering in the bathroom, where the dog had cornered them.
The animal, which belonged to 23-year-old Miss Camp's boyfriend, was shot by police and later euthanized.
Mackenzie's injuries were so extensive that she had to be airlifted to hospital and was in surgery for seven hours immediately after the attack.
Despite her ordeal, her family say the little girl is sitting up in her hospital bed and smiling.
A Facebook update from Mackenzie's aunt, Sheryl Camp, said on April 6: 'I'm pleased to say she doesn't remember a thing. It's amazing what they were able to do to put her back together.
'As she grows these scars will fade. If they don't, she is still beautiful like her mother.'
Several fundraising events are being held in the community and a Go Fund Me page has already raised more than $13,000 towards Mackenzie's medical costs.
As soon as Mackenzie was out of intensive care, Officers Massey and Zavesky and 911 dispatcher, Rhonda Darrow, who handled the call, visited the little girl and her mom at Memorial Hermann Hospital.
The group were pictured with Miss Camp, who had two bandaged hands, and Mackenzie, who looked frail in her hospital bed.
A post on the League City Police Department's Facebook page said: 'Rarely do we get to know what happens after the emergency response is over. And there are some calls that haunt us for the rest of our careers.'
Miss Camp frantically called 911, and spoke to Ms Darrow, after the dog unexpectedly turned on her daughter at about 8.45am.
Police said the dog was still attacking the girl when they arrived and an officer shot the animal so other officers could help the mother and daughter.
'It was a very bad scene,' Reagan Pena with the League City Police Department told KHOU, adding of Miss Camp: 'Obviously she was trying to prevent the dog from attacking her child.'
The animal was shot once at the scene but did not die, authorities said. Animal control later euthanized the dog and it was carried away from the scene in a body bag.
Authorities said that Miss Camp, who is an apartment manager at the Avana at South Shore apartments, had been looking after the dog for her boyfriend, who was not home.
Neighbors became emotional as they spoke about the attack and the young family.
'She's a wonderful person and her little girl is a sweetheart,' neighbor Maria DuBose told Click2Houston.
League City police told KHOU that charges are unlikely in this case and it may be instead considered a 'family incident'.
Animal control will conduct its own investigation into the attack.
Earlier:
- Texas: Mom, daughter attacked by boyfriend's pit bull
- Texas: League City girl, 2, recovering after being attacked by her mother's boyfriend's pit bull
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