Girl's family call for dog who 'ripped her cheek off' to be put down

EXCLUSIVE Family of little girl, five, whose cheek was ‘ripped off’ by Pocket Bully outside a Nisa store are calling for the dog to be put down – as police confirm it remains in kennels

• WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
• Farrah-Leigh Nichol, five, was savaged by the dog after she petted it on Saturday
• Her family has called for muzzles to be made mandatory for dogs outside

The family of a little girl whose cheek was ripped off by a Pocket Bully dog are demanding to know why the animal has not been destroyed.

Farrah-Leigh Nichol, five, faced further surgery this morning and her devastated parents have been told the outcome was not as successful as her consultant had hoped.

As the youngster faces a gruelling schedule of operations stretching ahead of her, police have revealed the dog that savaged her outside a Nisa store on Saturday evening has not been destroyed.

The male dog – a smaller variant of the American Bully – is being held in police kennels until its fate can be decided by further investigations.

Friends and family of Farrah-Leigh had assumed the dog would be put to sleep after causing such devastating injuries.

Farrah-Leigh Nichol’s face was torn open during the vicious attack, which happened after the five-year-old asked to pet the dog

The Pocket Bully dog that allegedly attacked Farrah-Leigh. It has been taken into police custody but has not been destroyed, to the shock of the girl’s family

The youngster is now recovering in hospital but her family has been told she has a gruelling series of operations ahead of her to repair her face

But a Cleveland Police spokesman said: ‘The dog has not been destroyed and remains in the kennels as we have seized it.’

Farrah-Leigh’s mum Danielle Kemp, 32, told MailOnline: ‘It needs destroying. That dog needs killing as soon as possible and the owner needs to be prosecuted.

READ MORE: Mother says her daughter’s screams will ‘haunt’ her after little girl, five, was mauled by a Pocket Bully outside a Nisa store – leaving her requiring surgery after ‘ripping her face off’

‘Justice needs to be served for my poor baby girl who is suffering the trauma of having to go into surgery.’

Danielle and partner Alex Nicol, 30, have been keeping a bedside vigil as their daughter undergoes skin grafts, the latest of which happened only this morning.

Danielle said: ‘She’s been down to surgery to have them fill the wound, but it’s not as clean as they were hoping, so they’ve only managed to clean it again.

‘So she’s having to have more surgery than they thought. She’s going to have to go through even more.’

Farrah-Leigh was attacked on Saturday evening outside the Nisa store in Norton Road, Stockton-on-Tees, Co Durham, close to the family home.

She asked to pat the brown and white Pocket Bully – a cross between a Pit Bull and Patterdale Terrier.

Farrah-Leigh with her own family’s dog. Her dad, Alex Nichol, said: ‘She loves dogs’

Farrah-Leigh before the incident. Her mum Danielle Kemp said she had been ‘very brave’ in the face of a series of operations

The dog that allegedly attacked Farrah-Leigh on Saturday. The owner remained at the scene following the attack and the animal was handed to police

Without warning the dog lunged and ripped open her face, leaving her cheek torn wide open.

Her father, kicked the dog away and scooped his daughter up and ran home.

Danielle said: ‘What I saw and the screams I heard will haunt me, she really didn’t deserve this.

‘I was cooking tea when Alex came running in with Farrah-Leigh. 

The scene of the attack in Stockton-on-Tees on Saturday

Farrah-Leigh’s dad Alex Nichol says he would happily muzzle his three dogs if it ‘saved just one child’ from being attacked

‘Our heads are all over the place at the moment. My little girl has already had one operation and she has another two to come.

‘She has one tomorrow morning and then another in two weeks, she’s been very brave.

‘The support we have had from local people has been overwhelming, we can’t thank them enough.’

The owner of the animal waited at the scene as emergency services arrived and the dog has now been seized.

Mr Nichol, who works as a tiler, said: ‘We had gone to the shop together and she had paid for some bread at the till.

Farrah-Leigh Nichol has a long road to recovery ahead following the attack

Her father added: ‘She was crying and all her face was off. Her face was gone. It was just gruesome’

‘We came out and I pressed the button to cross the road and she said, “Can I stroke that dog?”

Dog attacks on children led to more than 1,000 surgeries last year with nearly 40% on victims under the age of four 

Dog attacks left children needing surgery more than 1,000 times last year, including nearly 400 cases where the child was under the age of four.

In total, victims of all ages needed surgery after being bitten or mauled 3,473 times in 2022 – the highest number since data was first released 16 years ago.

Experts said the number of children being attacked is ‘very worrying’ but that many of the bites are ‘preventable’.

The shocking figures from NHS Digital showed that the total number of hospitalisations following dog attacks has nearly doubled from 4,699 in 2007/8 to 9,336 in 2022/3.

Dr John Tulloch, a lecturer in veterinary public health at Liverpool University, said: ‘The growth in dog bites is faster than the growth in dog population – so it can’t just be that there are more dogs.’

‘I said, “Yes, but you will have to ask the man first.”

‘She said, “Can I stroke your dog?” and he said, “Yes, no problem.”

‘She went to stroke the dog on the head. She loves dogs. She was stroking it really gently.

‘The dog jumped and she jumped back and I thought, that was lucky.

‘But then the next minute I saw her curled up on the floor and she said, “Dad”.

‘She was crying and all her face was off. Her face was gone. It was just gruesome.

‘I booted it. I stamped on it. I picked my daughter up and went back to the house.

‘She was taken to hospital and she is stable and she has had stitches. But there’s still so much to do.’

In the wake of a spate of recent dog attacks on children, Mr Nichol now believes all breeds should be muzzled.

He said: ‘We have three dogs ourselves. We have a Staffie and two XL Bullies. But I would be happy to muzzle them.

‘If all dogs were muzzled it would just take away the risk. If it saved just one child it would be worth it.

‘Always be wary of dogs you don’t know.

‘My daughter loved dogs, but this incident has obviously given her a full fear factor.

‘We’re all still in shock at the moment. We can’t believe this has happened.’

Family friend Kirsty Lavender, 32, said: ‘She’s such a brave, strong little girl, she’s kind but she still needs a skin graft to reform her face.

‘Her mam and dad are very worried about her of course but she’s bounced back really well so far.’

A neighbour who lives near where this latest attack happened said: ‘The little girl asked to stroke the dog and it just went for her.

‘Her dad was straight over to help and he was booting the thing to get it away from her. She did nothing to provoke it and the owner seemed happy for her to pat the dog.

‘A dog that unpredictable should not have been out without a muzzle.’

Dr John Tulloch, a lecturer in veterinary public health at Liverpool University, previously said that the way Brits take care of dogs needs to change.

‘We know dogs are now kept in the home for more than seven or eight hours on their own and they are going to get frustrated.

‘A lot of dogs don’t get the exercise needs – their health needs aren’t being met and so they have the potential to be more anxious and nervous.

‘If you keep a dog in a horrible environment and they’re not looked after they are going to have more behaviour problems and be more likely to bite.’

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