Scottish girl mauled in dog attack

A 10-year-old girl was being treated in hospital today after she was bitten by a dog in the second attack of its kind this week.

A Japanese akita dog bit the face of Toni Clannachan while she was playing in a school friend's garden at a house on Tuesday, it was reported.

The 10-year-old was taken to Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, where she remained in a stable condition last night.

Toni's father, James Dixon, told the Daily Record newspaper: "These dogs shouldn't be with families or around kids. They are killing machines."

Speaking about the injuries to his daughter's face, he said: "If the dog had bit her an inch or so lower it would have severed an artery in her neck and I really think she would be dead."

The Daily Record said Toni needed more than 100 stitches for the injury from the attack.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said last night: "At 4.40pm on August 31 a 10-year-old female sustained facial injuries when she was bitten by a Japanese akita dog in the Kilmarnock area.

"She was conveyed to Crosshouse Hospital for treatment and is detained in a stable condition."

On Sunday 10-year-old Rhianna Kidd was mauled by two rottweilers while riding her bicycle in Dundee.

The primary school pupil was treated for a fractured jaw and has had to have plastic surgery. The dogs were put down earlier this week.

A 33-year-old woman was charged in connection with the attack under the Dangerous Dogs Act, Tayside Police said earlier this week.