The Mirror reports on a child dog bite case we are dealing with
The incident occurred at a car dealers in Heanor, Derbyshire. The little girl, who was just 18 months old, suffered terrible facial injuries.
The mother, who was getting her car serviced at a BMW dealership, noticed that a man was waiting in the reception area with his dog which, she described as a red pointer. She asked him if it was safe for her daughter to pet the animal because she loves dogs so much.
The man assured her it was fine, but as the toddler petted the dog it went for her, biting her twice on the face.
The newspaper quoted our client, Nicol Rozic, as saying:
“My daughter absolutely loves dogs – we have a French bulldog at home – I approached the gentleman to ask if his dog was friendly and he said yes.
She stroked the dog and it bit her face twice. The owner just stood there, he didn’t do anything. I’m heavily pregnant and I had to prise my daughter from the dog.
He took the dog away, saying he was just going to put him in the car, but he never came back. I can’t believe he just left.”
The dog attack resulted in the child requiring hospital treatment and Nicol is worried that she may have to undergo further surgery.
Derbyshire Police are now investigating the incident, speaking to witnesses and viewing CCTV. Jasmine Butler, who is handling the legal action commented:
“This was a horrific incident, but unfortunately it is not an uncommon one. The majority of children who suffer dog bites sustain facial injuries and we are dealing with similar cases and enquiries on a daily basis.
Dog owners need to acknowledge that their pets can potentially cause serious physical and psychological harm. The risk is massively increased when children are involved because their actions and movements can often be misinterpreted by the dog and children are unable to read the warning signs that dogs might display before biting.
Encouraging a stranger to pet a dog is not the action of a responsible dog owner and leaving the scene when such serious injuries had obviously been caused raises all kinds of questions about their actions.”
