The mother of a toddler mauled by a dog in Christchurch earlier this month has asked police not to charge the dog's owners.
Two-year-old Aotea Coxon was attacked by a staffordshire cross in Jellie Park on August 5. She needed 290 stitches and had a plate inserted in
her jaw.
Mother Chantel Coxon said Aotea returned home from hospital this week and was happy and doing well, The Press newspaper reported.
The dog which attacked Aotea had escaped from its fenced enclosure at a house near the park.
It was put down after the attack and police had not yet decided whether to charge the owners.
But Ms Coxon said she did not think they should be prosecuted.
"They seem pretty good people," she told The Press. "The dog was a family dog, and they had kids of their own.
"They've gone through enough, I would say, so I wouldn't want them charged.
"It would be a different story if it was someone with a real bad dog."
They had sent flowers and a teddy bear to Aotea and wanted to meet to apologise in person, Ms Coxon said.
After the attack the father of one of the dog's owners said the couple were distraught and struggling to understand how their dog which had played with their own 18-month-old daughter, could have mauled the two-year-old.
The dog had been well behaved and the attack was out of character he said.
Police said the views of Aotea's family would be taken into account when it came to laying charges and a decision was expected early next week.
Calls for tougher dog control laws have intensified since the attack on Aotea, with Prime Minister Helen Clark saying she was "more than happy" to look at how the law and enforcement of some dog breeds could be improved.
- NZPA
