A two-year-old girl could be scarred for life after her face was mauled by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in an unprovoked attack.
Michaela Clark needed emergency facial surgery after her mum’s partner’s dog randomly attacked her on Monday afternoon.
The toddler was rushed to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth and was immediately taken into theatre for treatment to deep cuts on her face.
Michaela had been living in the same house as the dog for about two months and was playing in the garden when the Staffie suddenly turned on her.
Recounting the horrific moment, Lauren said: ‘The dog we were living with was in the living room and me and my daughter were playing in the garden.
‘She ran through the house, and I was running after her.
‘All of a sudden he came out of the living room, pushed her over with his front two paws, used the paws to stand on her back, and as she turned her head around, he bit her face.
‘Luckily enough I was stood right behind her; it all happened within seconds, but I was stood right behind her and I managed to get him off and get him into the garden, and then my main priority was getting her wounds cleaned, seeing how bad it was and getting her what she needed.’
The dog was very familiar to Michaela as her mum and its owner had been together for around a year.
Lauren has parted ways with the boyfriend in order to keep away from the unpredictable dog and the pair have moved into Lauren’s mum’s house.
She said: ‘The dog and her knew each other and they’ve always got along together and played fine. It was unprovoked, she didn’t do anything to him.’
Lauren has been warned her daughter is likely scarred for life after needing her lip stitched together and sustaining extensive damage to her nose.
Detailing the gruesome injuries, she said: ‘There was a triangle missing out of her mouth which they’ve had to fully stitch back together.
‘When my sister cleaned up the scene, she actually found my daughter’s skin on the floor in the pool of blood.
‘The cartilage on [Michaela’s] nose was popped so badly that it now faces another way. I thought her nose was broken, but the doctors told me that babies don’t have bones in their noses.
‘Even now after surgery, she’s been having constant nosebleeds, her nose is just full of blood.’
Little Michaela has bounced back to her usual smiley self but now mum Lauren wants to know why action isn’t being taken to prevent it happening again.
Lauren added: ‘I personally think the dog should be put down, or at least re-homed to somewhere with adults only, because when I got him off her he didn’t go to attack me.
‘The police said that they didn’t want to put the dog down because it was an isolated incident. But [it could happen to somebody else].’
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