Dog in golf cart runs over 4-year-old girl

Bella, the fire department’s arson dog, was in the cart’s driver’s seat when she jumped down onto the accelerator.

A dog in a golf cart hit the accelerator and ran over a 4-year-old girl at a festival in Michigan.

The child had no visible injuries, said the fire department in Westland, on the western outskirts of Detroit.

Bella, the department’s arson dog, was in the cart’s driver’s seat at Friday’s Blues, Brews and Barbecue event when she jumped down onto the pedal.

As the cart lurched toward a group of people, a firefighter in the passenger seat grabbed the steering wheel. The only person struck was the girl. “The passenger side front tire ran over her left leg,” the department said in a press release Saturday.

The child was shaken up, but apparently not physically hurt. Her mother refused medical treatment beyond the paramedics’ initial assessment, and the girl was playing in a bounce house 10 minutes later.

Bella will be returning to the cart “with extra precautions in place,” according to the fire department.