Bristol schoolgirl, 6, could be scarred for life after dog attack
Bristol magistrates heard the girl was walking with her mum, having been picked up from Easton Primary School, when the dog escaped from a garden on Clifton Place and attacked her.
The dog's owner Joy Burrell, 42, yesterday admitted failing to control a dangerous animal.
In a witness statement read out in court, the victim's mother said she feared her daughter would be scarred for life.
Prosecuting, Andrea Edwards described what happened at around 3.30pm on May 11.
She said the brown bull terrier ran out of the garden, bit the six-year-old on the right side of her chest – drawing blood – before running back into the garden.
Burrell had been out at the time and when she heard what happened she caught up with the girl's mother to find out if she was hurt and apologised.
When she was later questioned by police she admitted the dog was hers and she said it had escaped through a hole in her back garden fence, which she had tried to repair and had asked the council to fix.
In a statement, the mother of the girl, neither of whom can be identified for legal reasons, said: "Since the dog bit my daughter I've become more scared of bigger dogs, as has my daughter."
She said the girl now has two scars on her chest – one an inch long and one "like a pimple" – which will stay with her for life.
Guy Percival, mitigating, said Burrell "was not an irresponsible person" and had owned the six-year-old dog since it was a puppy.
It had previously caused no problems at all and had been well-behaved around children.
Since the attack, Burrell has made sure the bull terrier has worn a muzzle in public.
Magistrates felt they could not sentence Burrell without more medical information about the extent of the injuries and whether the girl would, indeed, be scarred for life.
Mr Percival added: "It's not a savage attack, it's very fleeting. Either he bit or scratched her with his claws."
The case was adjourned for sentence on September 24.
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