KEY POINTS:
A dog ripped an ear off a toddler in an attack in Canterbury yesterday.
The two-year-old boy was attacked while playing with the dog at Lake Crichton, near Dunsandel, 40km southwest of Christchurch.
The dog was a bull mastiff or pitbull, The Press newspaper reports.
Senior Constable Rod Stuart, of Leeston, said he went to the waterskiing lake about 3.30pm yesterday.
"The dog has attacked and taken the child's ear off. The dog has been pounded by dog control."
St John Ambulance spokesman Ian Henderson said the boy was taken to hospital with "severe injuries" to the head area.
The boy's parents, believed to be holidaying in New Zealand, went with him to Christchurch Hospital.
- NZPA
