An 18 month old baby has been left traumatized after being bitten on the face by a dog in an unprovoked attack.
Toddler, Kelsie Male, was thrown back onto the pavement after an Alsatian dog lunged and sunk its teeth into her face missing her eye by just millimeters.
Her mother Sophie Garth, 28, who was a few steps behind, desperately ran to help her out and then rushed the bloodied and bruised girl to hospital.
Sophie and her partner Stuart Male, 33, went strolling with their three older children when the attack took place last week Saturday.
According to Sophie, they were walking down the pavement near to their home when the dog appeared from nowhere and immediately lunged for Kelsie’s face.
The baby was thrown backwards by the force of the animal and sustained minor injuries but her parents say the incident has left the baby deeply traumatized.
The family, from Portland, Dorset, say the attack has left their youngest daughter waking up crying in the night, unhappy to be left alone and ‘jumpy’ around both people and other dogs.
Mother Sophie said: ‘Watching that dog go for my daughter is a sight that will sadly never leave me and I can still hear her crying when I close my eyes.
‘I was about four steps behind her on the pavement but the dog just came out of nowhere, completely unprovoked – it was bigger than her and sent her flying off the curb onto the floor.
‘It was awful seeing her in so much pain as she is such a lovely little girl with a big heart.
‘Thankfully her injuries are mainly recovered now, but the situation could have been so much different if the dog had bitten just millimetres higher on her face and got her in the eye.
‘She’s still traumatised – she wakes up in the night crying, she gets jumpy around everyone and she doesn’t want to be left alone.’
Police attended the scene but no arrests were made. The dog was believed to be owned by a visiting friend of one of the street’s residents.
As Sophie and Stuart rushed their daughter to Weymouth hospital, they said Kelsie’s face and mouth were bleeding and she had bruises all over her back from the fall.
Sophie added: ‘She had blood over one side of her face but I was so scared to touch her in case I hurt her or caused it to get infected.
‘She cried for hours without stopping – I will never be able to forget the sound of those cries.’
Sophie said: ‘What happened that day will never leave my memory – my beautiful little girl was bitten for no reason.
‘You never expect this kind of thing will ever happen to your child, she is such a lovely girl, she has a big heart, and she was a huge animal lover before this.
‘She’s incredibly lucky that the dog missed her eye or this could have been so much worse, but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
‘We’re just praying that she will get over the trauma and go back to how she was before.
‘I just want this to be a warning to other parents to be wary letting their children near dogs you don’t know – you can never be sure what might happen and it’s not worth the risk.’