A 9-year-old Rotorua girl suffered deep cuts to her head and arm after a neighbour's American bulldog attacked her.
Frightened children who tried to help when Stevie-Rebecca Shipgood was attacked thought she was going to die.
The dog's owner, who did not want to be named, said his partner was walking the 2-year-old dog, Riley, on a lead about 2.30pm on Sunday on Te Ngae Rd near Puketawhero Park. There were six children with her including her own and Stevie-Rebecca who was bouncing a ball when Riley jumped up and bit her arm and head.
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The man's partner tried to pull Riley off the girl, then blocked her from the dog.
In tears, a girl who was with the group told The Daily Post she hit the dog to try to get it off Stevie-Rebecca. "I was scared she was going to die."
The dog owner said a worker at Piako Tractors intervened and got the dog off the girl. Emergency services were called and an ambulance, police and Animal Control attended.
Ambulance officers treated the injured girl before taking her to Rotorua Hospital. A St John Ambulance control room spokesman described here injuries as moderate.
The dog owner said he was devastated, had apologised to the girl's family and wanted the animal put down.
"It's a big shock. It will be hard to put him down but it has to be done ... We are devastated for the family."
He had owned four American bulldogs in the past 12 years without any trouble and thought Stevie-Rebecca, a friend of his daughter, may have been scared of Riley and that the dog had sensed that.
Some of the children ran to the injured girl's home on Tumene Drive to get her father, Gary Shipgood, after the attack.
Her cousin who was there said the dog jumped on Stevie-Rebecca and wouldn't let go. "It was pretty scary."
An emotional Mr Shipgood said he was upset but also felt sorry for the dog's owners. "They are going to have to put the dog down and I know this isn't easy."
Rotorua District Council Animal Control supervisor Kevin Coutts said it was likely the dog owner would be charged, depending on what the victim's family wanted.
Last night Mr Shipgood said his daughter was doing well after receiving stitches, including20 to one wound. She had been released from hospital.
He did not want the dog's owners charged, saying they would be feeling bad enough already.
It was the third dog attack on a child in New Zealand in less than a week, the fifth in a month.