Three year old Demi Franklyn was viciously mauled by a neighbour’s dog. Demi was playing with the Japanese Akita outside her home when it seized her, breaking her jaw and causing horrific injuries to her head and neck.

The attack caused such severe damage to the little girl’s facial muscles and nerves that she is unable to form a smile and doctors are unable to say at this stage whether the damage can be repaired. Demi has already undergone one operation at Bradford Royal Infirmary but may require further reconstructive surgery to her jaw.

The dog responsible for the attack has since been destroyed but Demi’s parents are angry that the dog was allowed out without a muzzle particularly as in June last year it had attacked a young boy who had gone to retrieve his football from the dog owners garden. Charlie Fielding was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood by his father who had to fight the Akita off. The boy required 40 stitches in his wounds.

Mohammed Asam Bashir, the owner of the dog, escaped prosecution for the attack on Charlie because the animal had been secured in a pen, behind a wall and a padlocked gate on private property. However, following the attack on Demi, the dog has now been destroyed and West Yorkshire Police are investigating the incident.