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Authorities say there are no grounds to prosecute the owners of a rottweiler dog that attacked a toddler who needed surgery for serious facial injuries.
The 3-year-old from Westport was in a "fairly comfortable" condition in Christchurch Hospital yesterday after being flown from the West Coast for treatment.
The toddler was visiting a Westport house with her mother when the attack occurred on Monday morning.
Police were called and the dog was handed over to Buller District Council animal control staff, who destroyed the animal.
It is understood the girl was playing with the dog when it suddenly attacked and bit her face.
The child's parents, at her bedside yesterday, did not want to comment on the attack.
Council spokeswoman Lisa Hankey said the council was not planning to prosecute the dog owners, because the adult rottweiler was registered and inside a private property.
This would not change unless the parents of the child "wished to add anything".
There had been no previous complaints about the dog.
The Government introduced several measures to try to prevent dog attacks after the high-profile mauling of Carolina Anderson, then aged 7, in an Auckland park in 2003. They included a controversial law for microchipping dogs, while a Stay Dog Safe This Summer campaign was relaunched last year.
