Girl, 8, loses right hand after being attacked by an Alaskan Malamute

AUSTRALIA -- An eight-year-old girl has lost a hand and remains in hospital after she was attacked by a dog in the Hunter region of NSW.

Police were called to a house on The Park Chase in Valentine Gardens Estate in Valentine, a suburb of Lake Macquarie, just after 3pm on Saturday.

They found the girl with injuries below her right elbow.

The Valentine home where the attack took place. Picture: Peter Lorimer

She was rushed to Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital for emergency surgery on Saturday night, but the operation was unsuccessful and her hand was unable to be saved, police said.

Speaking through a hospital spokeswoman, the girl's parents declined to give any information on her condition on Sunday.

Inspector Gerard Lawson, duty officer for Newcastle Local Area Command, said the girl was playing in a cul-de-sac with other children when she put her arm under a fence to pat one of the three Alaskan Malamutes that live there.

One of dogs bit the girl, leaving her with severe injuries.

"There were other children in the area playing, under supervision of an adult," Inspector Lawson said.
"An investigation has been launched by Lake Macquarie City Council rangers and they're being assisted by Lake Macquarie detectives.

One of three alaskan malamutes believed to have been in the
 backyard of a house at Valentine where an 8-year-old girl was
 bitten and later lost her hand. Picture: Facebook

"At no time has it been suggested the dog was out of its yard."

Neighbours said the girl did not live in the street but visited often to play with friends who lived there.

They said the girl and her little sister were on a play date with about six friends in the early afternoon when the children went up a public path beside the house where the dog lived and the eight-year-old put her hand under the fence.

It's believed the children saw what happened.

A neighbour heard screaming and helped to comfort the shaken children and the girl's sister, who was in "a terrible state", until their parents were called.

On Sunday, no one was home at the house where the dogs lived and the backyard was empty.

There were wooden sleepers underneath the house's rear fence, but one had fallen over, leaving a space large enough to put a hand through.

It's believed all three animals were taken away by council rangers.

A former neighbour posted on Facebook the dog was usually well behaved with young children.

"I have grown up playing with this dog who has bitten her hand and it has been fine with every other kid on the street," Laura Garside said.

A spokeswoman for Lake Macquarie City Council said rangers were continuing their investigations into the incident on Sunday.

A crime scene was set up at the house after the attack on Saturday afternoon, but it was not active on Sunday.

(Sydney Morning Herald - Aug 31, 2015)