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A two-year-old girl has undergone major surgery to her face in Christchurch Hospital after being mauled by a dog yesterday.
Police say the girl was in Jellie Park, in the Christchurch suburb of Burnside, when the dog - believed to be a Staffordshire bull terrier-type breed - took to her face.
A member of the public walking in the park with his family saved the girl from an even worse fate when he intervened and managed to prise the dog off her.
The girl's injuries are not life-threatening, but are very serious.
Senior Constable Rod Fraser, of the Papanui police, said the distraught owners of the dog turned up later after the dog had been locked up.
The owners then agreed to the dog being destroyed.
Mr Fraser said it appeared the dog had managed to get out of the owners' property and into the nearby park.
The dog had lived at a house with children, was registered, and was not known to be a dangerous dog.
Police have compared the savagery of the attack to the high-profile mauling of Carolina Anderson, then aged 7, in an Auckland park in 2003.
Christchurch City Council animal control team leader Mark Vincent said he knew little about the case, and police were dealing with it.
