KEY POINTS:
A dog bit a girl's face while the 5-year-old collected money for charity with her church group. But instead of wanting the dog put down, the girl and her father spent time calming its upset owner.
Isabelle Davies, of Te Puke, was out with her father, Alastair, and their church group, when the attack happened on Saturday.
The group was collecting donations for the Tauranga Foodbank.
Isabelle and her father knocked on a door and when the woman went to get them something, the dog latched on to Isabelle's face.
It left a puncture wound and extensive bruising.
"Her dog was inside ... it came through the door ...
"Within two seconds it bit my daughter on the face," Mr Davies said.
"In about two or three seconds it let go and my daughter, of course, was screaming; the dog went back inside."
He said the attack caught him, his daughter, and the dog's owner by surprise.
"The lady was very shocked that her dog had even done it. "It didn't bark, growl or anything.
"She [the owner] went straight into shock, mortified, she was shaking; we spent some time just trying to calm her down to make sure she was okay."
One of the dog's teeth tore Isabelle's cheek, and her face was bruised from where other teeth had pushed against it.
"It wasn't really shaking its head, trying to savage her or anything like that; if it had it probably would've taken her cheek right off," Mr Davies said.
Shortly after, Mr Davies took Isabelle to hospital to make sure she was all right.
She did not require stitches.
"She may have a little scar but hopefully not too much.
"As a dog owner, I've understood probably why the dog did it," Mr Davies said.
"I know the lady was genuine when she said it had never done anything like that before ... it was just a freak accident."
Mr Davies said he visited the dog's owner to let her know Isabelle was going to be okay and passed on their number so the woman could be updated on Isabelle's health. He said the girl was taking it in her stride.
He would not lay charges.
"When you get a dog and a child the same size, sometimes the dog wants to state their dominance."
While he feared it could attack again, he said the woman was now taking precautions and locking the dog in a separate room before opening the door to people.
Tauranga City Council animal services manager John Payne said it was difficult for the council to act on the incident.
"[It's] very difficult without a victim, that's one of the essential elements of the charge," Mr Payne said.
"It's a real shame, because often a face bite on a child is what triggers a legislation change."
Mr Payne said three-quarters of dog attacks were not reported to the council because the victims owned or knew the dogs.
"At the end of the day, that dog's a threat to the rest of the community.
- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES
