Another Child Bitten By Dog

[TessiesTracey]

Article

A three-year-old boy could be scarred for life after he was savaged by a dog during a family picnic.

Logan Trim was left with horrific facial injuries when he was mauled by the black Labrador in a park at Poole Harbour, Dorset.

The attack was especially shocking as Labradors are known for having an excellent temperament and are friendly around children and other dogs, according to experts.

The youngster was left covered in blood, and needed 40 stitches to the wounds on his face after the shocking attack, which happened as his mother bent down to stroke a puppy.

The Labrador was not thought to be the puppy's mother.

Logan had been at the park with his mother Lara Slingsby, baby brother Eithan and his grandparents when they spotted a woman with a puppy and a black Labrador.

Miss Slingsby had walked over to stroke the puppy when the Labrador jumped on the three-year-old without warning, savaging the right side of his face.

The 22-year-old carer, from Colehill, near Wimborne, said: 'The whole thing was just and was like something out of a horror film.

'Logan has had nightmares about it and has woken up saying "bad doggy, naughty doggy".

'If a dog does something like that to a child then it's likely to do it again.'

An ambulance was called to Whitecliff Park and his mother tried to stem the blood with Eithan's muslin.

Logan was taken to Poole Hospital where he underwent surgery for his wounds.

Stitches were sewn into his face from the bottom of his eye to the middle of his mouth, and his cheek swelled to the size of tennis ball. He now faces being scarred for life.

Miss Slingsby and her children had gone to the seaside park with her parents, Tricia, 45, and Paul, 46, to enjoy the sunshine.

She said: 'We had been in the park for a family day out as it was lovely and sunny.

'We had a picnic and Logan had just got off the swings in the park because his granddad had gone to the car to get his kite.

'We saw a lady sat down about 40 feet away. She had the dog, which looked like a Labrador, and a puppy with her.

'It wasn't a pitbull or a Staffordshire bull terrier that you would think would be dangerous.

'She saw us and smiled so we walked over to her. Logan was a couple of steps behind me. The dog was off the lead and right next to a children's park so I assumed it would be fine.

'I put my hand up to the Labrador dog and it sniffed my hand and then I went over to the puppy.

'I didn't see what happened but Logan wasn't running or shouting and didn't do anything to provoke it.

'The next thing I knew I heard growling and screaming. I looked around and saw Logan lying on the floor. The dog was just getting off him.

'The woman grabbed hold of the dog and started apologising.

'I picked Logan up and took him to the nearest bench. My dad came running over and a lady nearby called an ambulance.

Logan's face was covered in blood, it was everywhere. His T-shirt was covered in it. He was screaming and he went into shock.

'It was hard because I just wanted to break down, but you don't want to worry them. They know something is wrong if mum's crying.

'He had two big gashes on his lip and another gash below his nose. His lip swelled right up.

'It was devastating and I was terrified.'

Miss Slingsby said that the woman owner of the Labrador - which was called Sammy - apologised to the Logan's mother and handed over her phone number.

She added: 'Logan is recovering now and is back running around and playing and his face has healed. Because he is so young his skin should heal but he is definitely going to have some scarring.'

She also said that after the attack the woman owner called a man who arrived minutes later and took the dog away.

She said she wants the dog, which is about one-year-old, destroyed, adding: 'You cannot trust the owner to keep it on a leash or a muzzle.

A spokesman for Dorset police said: 'On May 31 we received a report from the ambulance service that a child had received a dog bite to the face at Whitecliff park.

'The child was taken to hospital. Officers are investigating.'

[GeckoTree]

Geeze, poor kid. Things like this are life changing, and at so young an age it alters paths of life time behaviour around animals, with no knowledge of what the alternatives could have been.

In other words - Scarred for life, and not just in the physical, known or not. It will just be as all ways.

Sad reading.

[sandgrubber]

Poor kid. Those wounds look awful. But not great journalism. I don't know my UK news outfits. Isn't The Mail pretty low on the list for responsible journalism . . .

Labrador? I wouldn't question Lab X, but the round eyes and large white spot are well off breed standard. Is it even the dog involved in the attack? The account given doesn't sound like anyone would have been taking pictures and the dog in the picture doesn't look stressed.

There's something fishy about this story. The mother didn't see what happened, she was standing a few steps away, and the child was thoroughly mauled by the time she turned around. She says the kid was 'lying on the floor' . . . in an outdoor park? Why is the story emerging more than two weeks after it happened? If the woman was so upset, why didn't she go directly to the police. [The story says the police got the report from an ambulance driver]. The dog owner gave her phone number. Why didn't someone get her account of what happened?

Article

The youngster was left covered in blood, and needed 40 stitches to the wounds on his face after the shocking attack, which happened as his mother bent down to stroke a puppy

'I put my hand up to the Labrador dog and it sniffed my hand and then I went over to the puppy.

'I didn't see what happened but Logan wasn't running or shouting and didn't do anything to provoke it.

'The next thing I knew I heard growling and screaming. I looked around and saw Logan lying on the floor. The dog was just getting off him.

'The woman grabbed hold of the dog and started apologising.'

'It was hard because I just wanted to break down, but you don't want to worry them. They know something is wrong if mum's crying.

A spokesman for Dorset police said: 'On May 31 we received a report from the ambulance service that a child had received a dog bite to the face at Whitecliff park.

'The child was taken to hospital. Officers are investigating.'

Edited June 16, 2011 by sandgrubber

[mr.mister]

Another sad story that could have been prevented. Dog should have been on-lead near a playground, and parent shouldn't have 'assumed' that the dog was safe. Didn't even sound like she asked to pat it. I don't think I'd approach any off-lead dog if I had a child in-tow.

[Maxiewolf]

Very Tragic. I hope the parents work with their child to help him over come his new fear of dogs.. and not let it fester into some sort of hatred. Ive seen that happen.

And the way it reads.. well looks like the mother assumed her way into that... did she actually ASK could she pat the puppy? The dog may not have been the mother but the puppy was obviously viewed as a member of the "pack" and Id say the labrador was doing what comes naturally if no one was actually watching what the child was doing the moment of the attack whats to say he didnt accidently make a gesture a dog could view as threatening? an innocent pat on the head for example is viewed as a threat to dogs.. but everyone does it...

Oh and that dog in the photo is not the offending dog its a "Insert handy picture of labrador here" file photo.

[melzawelza]

This story is proof of why BSL is so dangerous to our society. Her quotes say everything. Because it wasn't a staffy or pit bull and was a lab which is 'known to be friendly with children' she allowed her child to pat an unknown dog and did so herself without permission. BSL creates a false sense of security around certain breeds and means that attacks like this happen. If it was a staffy or a pit she would have kept her child away and the attack would have been avoided.

Poor child, I hope he can recover from this both physically and mentally

[Stutterfly]

Another sad story that could have been prevented. Dog should have been on-lead near a playground, and parent shouldn't have 'assumed' that the dog was safe. Didn't even sound like she asked to pat it. I don't think I'd approach any off-lead dog if I had a child in-tow.

This.

Are parents just not teaching children common courtesy and/or sense anymore? Poor kid.

[pixie_meg]

Poor kid. Those wounds look awful. But not great journalism. I don't know my UK news outfits. Isn't The Mail pretty low on the list for responsible journalism . . .

Labrador? I wouldn't question Lab X, but the round eyes and large white spot are well off breed standard. Is it even the dog involved in the attack? The account given doesn't sound like anyone would have been taking pictures and the dog in the picture doesn't look stressed.

I'd say thats a stock photo. not the real dog in the story.

[fuzzy82]

It even says below the photo that it's a stock photo. Not the dog in question.

The story is a little unclear. Did they ask to pat the dog? Did they just walk up to it? Was the owner nearby when they started patting it, or had she fallen behind? Did they get between the dog and the owner and maybe the dog thought he was protecting the owner (or the puppy)? Too many questions.

[Online Pets]

Another sad story that could have been prevented. Dog should have been on-lead near a playground, and parent shouldn't have 'assumed' that the dog was safe. Didn't even sound like she asked to pat it. I don't think I'd approach any off-lead dog if I had a child in-tow.

100%. Too many people just assume that certain breeds are safe and certain breeds are dangerous. Any dog has the potential to be safe or dangerous and strange dogs should always be approached with caution.

[Christina]

Sad. All dogs should be on a lead in a childrens playground no matter what size, breed or how well trained.

Sad too that she said it wasn't a staffy or pit bull. Bad media stuff certainly gets believed.

I don't know much about pit bulls, never met one, but every staffy I have ever met has been so people friendly.

Wonder why the dog attacked. Owner must have trusted it to have it loose there, one would hope, stupid as she was

[gwenneth1]

Poor little kid, very sad to hear. More tofuzzy82's post, when we've had a pup out in a public area (3 mths) with our older dog, the older dog uncharactistically became standoffish with people and began 'guarding' and becoming protective of our pup (they're same sex). We had to take steps to address the situation, with now good results, but it did take us by surprise that "Mr Reliable" had a sudden personality change.

[tobie]

I can't get over the pictures of that poor little boys face. I don't care about what breed of dog it is I don't think it should ever be relevant this just should not happen. The owner should have had more control over the dog (I beleive the dog was off leash at the time correct me if I am wrong)and the mother should have not allowed her child to be near an unknown animal. Even if someone tells me their dog is fine I will not let my child near that dog unless I know the dog for myself. I would never let my child near a dog just because some random person in the park says their dog is fine with kids. Who knows what really happened in this situation as the facts are the media never get it right.

I just hope this little boy is ok.

[Keira&Phoenix]

Wow every single mistake made was made by a person in this story.

Owner of dog with dog + young puppy at a childs playground with dog off leash

Mother taking small child and approaching, patting without asking and then turning her back on her child who was standing in front of a dog the same height as it.

This is 100% human responsibility and the dog IMO should not be destroyed, so what the child wasn't screaming or running, who is to say it didn't hit the dog when trying to pat it, or pinch it or pulled it's ear any one of those things may have made the dog upset. Mother needs to take responsibility for her part in all this and leave the dog alone.

And her comments about Staffys and Pitbulls is just naive, every dog of every breed and every size has it in them to bite if confronted with a situation which makes it frightened or in which it feels threatened. As Melzawelza said BSL is creating a society that thinks only certain breeds of dogs are capable of biting when that is in fact not the case. It was only a little while ago a Labrador mauled a child because the child was allowed to play with the dog whilst it was eating, or the Golden Retriever that is now in the care of Steve from K9 Pro who mauled several adult family members and I am sure there are many many more stories of "reliable" breeds of dogs involved in mauling situations.

Doesn't matter what size or breed of dog you are approaching never get within reach of the dog without first checking with the owner and even then caution is necessary especially if you have a child with you.

I hope the child recovers and goes on to be able to forgive dogs and love one. My nephew at 2 years was bitten on the face sadly by a family dog ( his story proves that these things happen in a split second even with trusted family pets. Cotton was PTS the same day) and he has gone on to love dogs of all shapes and sizes. He is now 4 and they have 2 dogs and he loves both of my girls, not a scared bone in his body luckily.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Keira&Phoenix

[poodlefan]

Wow every single mistake made was made by a person in this story.

I agree. Its like one of those "seconds from disaster" countdowns..

I'd believe the 40 stitches. A couple of good bites can do a good job of scalping a youngster

[PetSitters]

This situation is complete human error and the child pays for his mother's stupidity. She should have been teaching her little boy to leave other people's dogs alone, instead she encourages interaction get's her child bitten then wants the dog PTS.

[Staranais]

The mother certainly shouldn't have approached the dog without explicit permission to do so (in the article, it sounds like she assumed that the dog owner smiling at her as she approached was implicit permission to interact with the dog - I find that understandable, although obviously incorrect). She also certainly should not have turned her back on the child and allowed it to approach the strange dog unsupervised (there's no excuse for that!)

However, if this article is accurate then I also wonder why the owner just sat there and allowed the child to approach the dog? If I were at a park and a random unsupervised toddler ran up to my dog, I'd intervene immediately (recall the dog, or step in front of the child, to prevent the encounter), as it's simply not worth the risk to allow my dog to interact offleash with a strange, unsupervised toddler. I'd think that was common sense?

[Sutton]

I have a 4yo daughter and she has never approached a dog by herself,you know why? Because you are meant to be watching them!

Why is a 3yo allowed to be so close to a large unknown dog?

And why a dog would be off leash in a public area let alone a kids playground is stupid and the owners should be punished.

[PetSitters]

The mother certainly shouldn't have approached the dog without explicit permission to do so (in the article, it sounds like she assumed that the dog owner smiling at her as she approached was implicit permission to interact with the dog - I find that understandable, although obviously incorrect). She also certainly should not have turned her back on the child and allowed it to approach the strange dog unsupervised (there's no excuse for that!)

However, if this article is accurate then I also wonder why the owner just sat there and allowed the child to approach the dog? If I were at a park and a random unsupervised toddler ran up to my dog, I'd intervene immediately (recall the dog, or step in front of the child, to prevent the encounter), as it's simply not worth the risk to allow my dog to interact offleash with a strange, unsupervised toddler. I'd think that was common sense?

Yes, I walk many dogs that I don't know how they deal with kids and intervene as a standard practice, never allowing kids to pat them or get too close. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a meanie not letting kids have a pat, but there is no way I will have dogs in my care biting people and don't need that experience in my life.

[sandgrubber]

There but for fortune, go you and I,

My first Labbie, a rescue, loved kids, but would bite anyone who approached her anal sphincter (aka a##-hole). Vets had to muzzle her to take her temperature. I once heard a growl when a toddler was near. Guess what. He was trying to examine the little hole under her tail. Nothing happened, other than the kid being told 'NO !!!!!!!!!!'. If I'd been distracted by a the kid's mother wanting to pet my puppy, that NO!!!!! might have been delayed and the kid might have gotten a good bite.

I don't think there's a breed message here . . . just that kids require supervision, especially around unknown dogs. Most dogs will growl before biting a kid. I'd guess the mum wasn't tuned in. I admit, I hold prejudice against single mums with multiple kids and suspect that the 'plaintiff', in this case, has a lot to hide.