10-year-old girl bitten by dog in playing field

Police said at around midday on Friday (April 7) the girl, accompanied by her aunt, was playing football with her cousins in the playing field at South Terrace, Littlehampton, when the football rolled near to a bench where there were three dogs with two men and a woman.

The dogs were not on leads, according to police.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: “As she went to retrieve the ball one of the dogs, described as a slightly fluffy greyhound type, possibly a cross-breed, ran at her and chased her as she tried to run back to her relatives. The dog then bit her on her left buttock causing puncture wounds.

“The owner of the dog, described as being in his mid-50s, with dark hair and an American accent, did nothing to help and the trio are said to have laughed, making no attempt to speak or apologise to the girl or her relatives.”

PC Darren Porter said; “The girl, whose wounds fortunately did not require stitches, was very upset. She is now scared to go to any park for fear of seeing a dog and is even frightened by her own family’s dog, which may now have to be re-homed. We are investigating this as an offence of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place.”

If you know who the owner is or if you saw what happened, please get in touch with police by emailing [email protected], reporting details online at https://sussex.police.uk/contact-us/response-to-appeal/ or by phoning 101. quoting serial 605 of 07/04.

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