Leighton Buzzard Girl Attacked by Dog

8 April 2010, 06:00

A single mum of three from Leighton Buzzard is calling for her next door neighbour's dog to be put down, after she claims it attacked her daughter.

Melisa Marjeram has been telling heart her events of what happened to 10 year old Lacie:

"It was Saturday (3rd April), she was just in the garden playing ball with her brother. There’s a little hole in the fence already where the dog previously ripped the fence from next door and a big hole in the bottom where it has come into our garden before. Her ball went over next door so she went to the little hole to ask the kids next door 'can I have my ball back please?’

"As far as all she can remember is seeing the dog through the little gap. It’s come running up to the fence and grabbed hold of her nose. It’s punctured, on the right side, two teeth through her nose and it’s tried to grab hold of the other side of her nose which has left a scar on her check and scratching.

"Its bruised and swollen, and my daughter pulled away because it would have ripped her nose off if it managed to get its teeth into the other side of her nose."

The 30 year old mum has been told by the RSPCA that the dog won't be put down, so she has started a Facebook group called "Dangerous Dog Bit My Daughter and Has Not Been Put Down" which has more than 500 members

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Heart has been speaking to Andrew Proctor, who lives next door and is the owner of the dog, for his side of the story:

"Considering that it wasn’t proven that it was my dog that had done the bite mark, but the police said it was a dog bite mark, the police said there is no proof. We are still waiting to hear from the police by the end of the week and we are just getting a load of grief over it now.

"There is nothing wrong with her (the dog). I was watching her at the time and she wasn’t even at the fence. And at the end of it she didn’t even jump up at the fence.

"I wish all the grief I was getting would stop."

In a statement a police spokesperson has been telling Heart:

"Bedfordshire Police were called to an incident at 12:30 on Saturday 3rd April, after receiving a report that a child had been injured by a neighbour’s dog. Following enquiries it was determined that no offences had occurred as it appeared the incident took place on private property which is not covered by the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. The RSPCA have bee made aware of the incident."