Dog to be put down after girl attacked

Amelia McGovern, 12, was left scarred for life by the 16-month-old Akita, named Cain, which will now be put down after 28 days.

The Kennel Club-registered Cain was the biggest Akita he had seen, said a witness, pet shop owner Harry Hymer.

The dog's owner, John Bandeira, 35, a heroin addict, kicked it in the ribs to free the screaming girl, Dan Cordey, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court.

The dog attacked again, seizing her left arm before father-of-two Bandeira drove it off, the court heard.

It took ten minutes for a police dog handler to capture it on the Easterside estate in Middlesbrough.

The court heard that Bandeira was drunk when the dog slipped its lead and it attacked the girl, who was running on a playing field near their homes.

Witnesses saw it attack her from behind, putting its paws on her shoulders. She fell to the ground and it was biting at her head.

Bandeira was said to have told her: "It wasn't the dog's fault, it was yours because you were running."

Bandeira told police that the dog had bitten a ten-year-old girl when it was six months old and it had also bitten him.

Yesterday, Bandeira, who paid £500 for the dog as a puppy, begged the judge to spare its life.

He said: "He's lovely, cuddly. Everyone loves him.

"Because I have children and he's been away in kennels for ten months I'm not prepared to take the risk of having him back.

"But I would like the police to try to rehouse him with somebody else."

Judge Les Spittle told him: "The dog perpetrated a savage attack on a child who received injuries from which she will be permanently scarred on the head, arms and shoulder.

"There's a risk of serious injury. You're not prepared to take it, and I'm not prepared to take it for the protection of the public."

Bandeira, of Albourne Green, Easterside, Middlesbrough, was given a two-year community rehabilitation order after he pleaded guilty to keeping a dangerous dog on June 4 last year.