Boy, 4, bitten by family pet dog in Darwen (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Boy, 4, bitten by family pet dog in Darwen

2:00pm Wednesday 31st October 2012 in News By Jessica Cree, Education reporter

A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy suffered three puncture wounds to his arm after he was bitten by a family pet.

The attack happened at a house in Darwen while the child was being looked after by relatives, who immed-iately took the Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog to be destroyed.

The boy was at his uncle’s house, in Winterton Road, and was not being supervised by an adult when he was bitten.

His uncle’s partner had gone upstairs and when she returned, the child was crying and had been attacked by the animal.

The four-year-old was taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital by paramedics for a tetanus injection, and for his arm to be dressed, although it was not thought his injuries were serious.

Sgt Louis Boyle, from Blackburn Police, said there were two other children under the age of 10 in the property at the time of the attack, which happened at around 5pm on Monday.

He said: “We received a call from the ambulance service, saying a four-year-old child had been bitten by a dog and that he had injuries.

“It happened inside a private dwelling and it was a family dog.

“The person who was looking after him went upstairs and when she came back down the boy was crying.

“It was not a dangerous dog type.

“It was a Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog.

“The owner, due to the fact that he had bitten his nephew, took it upon himself to have the dog put down.

“They were very upset about what happened.

“The children were very upset too as the dog was a family pet.

“It did not look like a vicious dog and had been through all the checks.”