Dog attack girl has 17 stitches

Courtney said she was "very frightened" during the attack

An eight-year-old girl has had 17 stitches in her face after being mauled by the family dog.

Courtney Charlesworth was stroking the pet at her home in East End Park, Leeds, when it turned on her.

Her mother said she was "very lucky" not to have been blinded as one bite narrowly missed the schoolgirl's eye.

Courtney's parents, who bought the animal for £20 to save it from being abandoned, have warned other families to be more careful when getting a dog.

The schoolgirl's father, Christopher Charlesworth, said he offered to take the dog in after hearing it was going to be tied to a tree and abandoned by its owner.

'No indication'

He said the animal, who the family had for a month, got on well with his three daughters and there had been "no indication" that it would attack.

He told BBC News: "It's just heart-wrenching. If it's going to bite anybody you want it to be yourself, not your kids. It's just not nice at all.

"No more dogs. We'll stick to goldfish."

Courtney said she was "very frightened" during the attack.

She said: "I was just stroking it when it was on his bed and then he just went for me.

Christopher Charlesworth talks about the attack on his daughter

"He bit me then I had blood all over my face. It was all over my pyjamas, my top and all in my hair and I went to hospital."

Courtney's mother Julie was in the bath when the attack happened downstairs.

She said: "I'd left [the dog with the children] loads of times by themselves, even when we got the dog and he was fine with them.

"I just heard the dog barking and growling so I rushed downstairs and by the time I'd got downstairs Courtney was at the bottom of the stairs covered in blood.

"She was screaming... she was terrified, she didn't know what had happened to her.

"If I thought for one minute [the dog] would have hurt them I would never have left them in the first place."