PARENTS have said their six-year-old daughter is 'lucky to be alive' after she was savaged by a terrifying dog.
Angel-Mae Dawson was playing outside her Meir home with her eight-year-old brother and cousins when the dog grabbed hold of her legs and ‘shook her around'.
Her parents witnessed the attack and managed to save their daughter.
The drama unfolded at around 7pm on Saturday after a German Shepherd appeared on the street.
Dad Jack Dawson, aged 28, said: “The dog went straight for my daughter. It went straight for one leg first, tried to incapacitate that one, and then went for the other one.
“It shook her about on the ground and then bit into her back. It looked like he’d gone for her spine. It was literally a few seconds but within a few seconds the dog had managed to do a lot of damage.
“Her mum had screamed with such a mother’s desperation. It scared the dog away. It shocked me. The first thing she could think of was to protect her daughter. She put her safety out of the window to save her.
“My daughter would not be alive today if it wasn’t for my partner saving her life. The only reason we still have a daughter is because of her.”
The parents bundled Angel-Mae into the car and headed straight to the Royal Stoke University Hospital.
Jack added: “We were full of anxiety, my daughter was screaming, my wife was holding onto her.”
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Angel-Mae suffered five puncture wounds on her legs and two on her back.
She suffered severe bruising on her lower back and upper thigh and is being treated for possible infections.
Jack added: “They’ve told her she's at a very high risk of infections so she’s not allowed in school for a week. They can’t close the wounds yet as dog bites are really toxic.
“She’s terrified of going outside, every time she hears a dog bark she’s terrified. She’s not able to walk properly, if she needs the toilet we have to help her. She keeps having small panic attacks. She’s had to have plenty of cuddles off mum.”
Now Jack has this message for parents following the attack.
He said: “Do not let your kids play out without you watching, for any reason. You never know what's going to happen.
"If we had not been in the garden and my wife hadn’t seen the dog come out, we would no longer have a daughter. I nearly lost my daughter to somebody’s dog.
“Just because there are dogs in the street, doesn’t mean they are friendly. People need to think that if their dogs are potentially vicious, they need to be muzzled, especially because kids can’t protect themselves.
“I love animals, I would wish for them all to have a lovely life. But if a dog is vicious enough to do as much damage as it did to my daughter, in such a short time, my honest opinion is that it should be terminated or at least put somewhere where it can be looked after, isolated away from children.”
Staffordshire Police have been approached for a statement.
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