A nine-year-old girl has had facial surgery after being mauled by a dog in an “extremely distressing” attack in a Brighton pub.
The girl was injured at the Long Man of Wilmington pub, in Wilmington Way, on the corner of Carden Avenue, on Sunday afternoon (7 May).
She was taken to hospital by ambulance where, according to a family friend, she had facial surgery.
A post on Facebook yesterday said: “A nine-year-old child was attacked by a caucasian shepherd named Hector in the Wilmington pub in Patcham yesterday.
“She’s lost teeth and had to have facial surgery today.
“Apparently, at the moment, all the police can do is offer the owner dog handling training.
“If you have had incidents with the same man and dog, please can you email ivan.tickner@sussex.police.uk before something more serious happens.”
Sussex Police said today: “Police were called to a pub in Carden Avenue, Brighton, at around 4.40pm on Sunday to reports of a child having been bitten by a dog.
“Officers, including a specialist dog unit, attended and located the animal and its owner, who had left the scene.
“The dog was assessed at its home address and found not to be a banned breed. The owner was advised to ensure it is muzzled in public at all times and to provide additional training.
“An investigation is under way and police remain in contact with the victim’s family and the owner of the dog, with a decision to be made on proportionate next steps.
“A nine-year-old girl was taken to hospital for treatment by the ambulance service.”
Inspector Dan Ellen said: “We understand this incident was extremely distressing for the young girl involved and her family.
“She was fortunate not to have suffered life-changing injuries and I would like to assure the community this is something we are treating very seriously.
“Specialist officers were quickly on the scene and an initial safety assessment concluded there is no wider risk to the community.
“This is an ongoing investigation and further action will be taken to ensure an appropriate outcome.
“Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information that could help is asked to contact police online or via 101, quoting serial 1034 of 07/05.”
This is awful, and increasingly frequent. I hope the poor young lady makes a rapid recovery.
You don’t know the circumstances around the aggression. The child could have been dangling off the dog and it had enough. Yes, handling training is very important in this situation, but saying the dog needs shooting, without any information, is purely disingenuous.
Always worth reading through the other comments before barging in with your uninformed opinions and insufferable virtue signalling.
I saw Hector being walked yesterday without a muzzle so obviously not listening to police advice. Hector has also attacked many dogs over the last year or so, leaving the owners and dogs traumatised. He’s attacked my dog three times without provocation. He is a very unpredictable dangerous dog.
Have you reported this to the police? The owner should be prosecuted. I just hope the little girl will recover quickly and does not suffer the consequences, either physically or mentally.
This owner should lose the right to have a dog. No question.
Put the dog down and ban the owner
I’d prefer to put the owner down and retrain the dog!