Mum defends dog after attack

Kailah with mum Taryn after surgery. Photo / Otago Daily Times

The mother of an 11-month-old girl whose face was bitten by a staffordshire bull terrier says dogs should not be vilified for attacks on children.

Kailah McLaren was left alone for a moment when her father Teryn McLaren went to heat a bottle. He heard screams and rushed back to find the family pet Bruno had savaged Kailah, leaving her with a broken jaw and severe facial cuts.

Surgeons in Dunedin Hospital yesterday gave the toddler "a lot" of stitches, he said, but Kailah's mother, Taryn, said she was talking and smiling from her bed.

Taryn, who asked that her surname not be published, said she nearly passed out from shock when she was told what had happened to her daughter.

"At first, when her father rang me to say she'd been attacked by the dog, I freaked out. I just about passed out. I never thought that would happen to my child.

"We were very lucky. She is up and talking, and smiling."

But she doesn't believe dogs are at fault, and says the staffordshire bull terrier was normally well-behaved.

"It's not a case of blame. Dog attacks happen all the time.

"He was nice to kids, he was never growly, but he just snapped. It's how the dog is brought up, and how the dog is treated, it's not what type of dog it is."

Teryn McLaren expressed his grief on Facebook after the attack, writing: "I dont think i can ever forgive myself for what happend to you [sic]".

Yet McLaren said surgery to repair his daughter's face had gone really well.

"My daughter is doing fine."

McLaren said the surgery had been carried out by the "best surgeon in the hospital", and they were hopeful the scarring would heal with time.

Kailah's grandmother, who owned the dog, was "very upset", said an animal control officer who ordered the dog be put down.

Senior animal control officer Jim Pryde said: "She'd had the dog for about three years. It came as a complete shock to her."

"There was no previous concern or complaint of any sort. The dog's record was clean," Pryde said.

Pryde said dog owners needed to be extra cautious.

"It's just one of these things that can happen and it affects a lot of people when it does."

ACC claims show nearly 12,000 people suffered dog-bite injuries last year, including more than 872 children under the age of five.

The number of cases requiring medical attention have increased since 2003 when 7-year-old Carolina Anderson was attacked in an Auckland park, leaving her with injuries so severe she has needed years of surgery.