A three-year-old boy and his grandma are in hospital after being attacked by a dog at a family farm.
Police say the incident was in the “mid-Staffordshire area” but haven’t revealed more details of exactly where the attack happened. Emergency services were called to the farm just after 5pm on Wednesday (1st April) after a French Mastiff apparently escaped from its pen and attacked the child and his grandmother in the farm yard.
The three-year-old boy sustained a broken leg and numerous cuts and puncture wounds to his face and body during the incident and his grandmother was also bitten numerous times as she tried to protect her grandchild. The child remains in a stable condition at Birmingham Children’s Hospital after an operation. Thankfully, his injuries are not considered life threatening. His grandmother was taken to the Royal Stoke Hospital and is also recovering after an operation to treat her wounds.
The dog has been destroyed and a man in his 60s has been arrested and bailed under section 3A of the Dangerous Dogs Act whilst investigations into the incident continue.
Inspector Bob Champeau from Staffordshire Police said: “This was a very distressing incident for those involved to deal with, the family are understandably shocked and upset. Police and ambulance crews attending had to work quickly with those at the farm to bring the dog under control before they were able to treat the two injured people. We arranged for a vet to attend to deal with the dog and a specialist officer trained in dealing with dangerous dogs was also involved in our response. It’s our role now to support those injured and their family whilst we establish the circumstances which led to the dog attacking them.
“The incident occurred in an isolated location and no other members of the community were put at risk. A full examination of the scene has also taken place. Both of those injured are expected to remain in hospital for the next few days.”
