When dogs turn DANGEROUS

After the death of another child, what can be done to prevent dog attacks?

- VERONIQUE HAWKSWORTH

At present, only four dog breeds are covered by the Dangerous Dogs Act - pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino and fila Brasileiro. But if your dog fits the characteristics of any of the four banned breeds, it may also be banned.

On 21 March 2022, a 17-month-old toddler was rushed to hospital. Tragically, Bella-Rae Birch would never return to her home in St Helens, Merseyside. She had died from catastrophic injuries caused by the family dog.

The adorable, blue-eyed girl had been fatally attacked by an American bully XL, which her parents had bought just a week before her death.

Shockingly, Bella-Rae is one of three people to be killed by dogs in England and Wales so far this year. And, amid a surge in people buying puppies during the pandemic, dog bites are also increasingly common.

In fact, a 2021 study of fatal dog attacks in European countries between 1995 and 2016 placed the UK fourth for human fatalities, with 56 recorded.

They're meant to be man's best friend, but what happens when dogs turn dangerous? How can we stop these savage attacks taking place?

We speak to one woman whose son was badly hurt by a dog, and to the animal charity the RSPCA about what can be done.

‘MY SON IS SCARRED FOR LIFE'

Natasha Dundas, 32, recalls how her son John Henry, 10, was attacked by a friend's dog.

At 10 years old, my son John Henry loved nothing more than a kickabout in the local park with his friends and the typical rough and tumble of a child his age.

On 6 October 2021, he was at a friend's house after school. But as I pulled on my shoes ready to pick him up around quarter past 7, I saw his friend's mum running up my driveway.