Schoolgirl, 8, ‘mauled like rag doll’ by Anatolian Shepherd leaving her with broken bones & ‘flesh ripped from her arm’
AN eight-year-old schoolgirl was left with horrific injuries after being “mauled like a rag doll” by an Anatolian Shepherd.
The large beast young pulled Annabell Rowdon to the ground in the sudden attack in Horseheath, Cambridgeshire.
The dog – believed to be an Anatolian Shepherd – ripped flesh from her left forearm, before it was pulled off by a dog trainer and her 63-year-old grandfather Steven Rowdon.
She was rushed to Addenbrookes Hospital where she required five hours of surgery the next day.
X-rays showed both bones in Annabell’s forearm were broken, and she suffered nine deep cuts.
Annabell is now recovering at home, but may require further surgery.
She has been left shaken by the attack and her family are furious that the dog was allowed to become so out of control.
Annabell’s mother Sonia Rowdon, 34, has now vowed to take legal action against the Anatolian Shepherd’s owners once they are identified.
Speaking about the horror attack, Sonia said: “If it had grabbed her face, or heaven forbid her stomach and caught her internal organs, this could have been an entirely different situation.
“We are proper dog owners. We’re not naïve, we know they can be powerful animals, so we make sure we have the support we need to control our dogs.”
Annabell had spent the weekend with her grandfather Steven and had accompanied him to a training course for reactive dogs at a playing field in Horseheath.
It was there the beast had a “little go” at his German Shepherd before the owners moved their dogs away from each other.
A few minutes later, the other dog allegedly pulled away from its owner, and pounced on helpless Annabell who was standing nearby.
Steven claims: “We were given instructions that the dogs were to be kept on the lead at all times, and under strict control.
“When it attacked, it bypassed my dog, me, another dog and its owner and made a beeline straight for my granddaughter.
“It was only for a second or two, but it shook her like a ragdoll.”
Cambridgeshire Police are currently investigating the incident that happened at a playing field in the village south of Cambridge on at 10am on June 11.
Steven added: “You hear about a child being killed by a dog, but the other children that get maimed and mutilated by these things, you very rarely hear about.
“People need to be made aware.”
A Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson, said: “We were called at about 10.20am on Sunday, 11 June, with reports a girl had been bitten by a dog in Linton Road, Horseheath.
“The eight-year-old girl was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
“A crime has been raised for allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control and an investigation into the incident is ongoing.”
The horror comes following a spate of dog attacks across the country.
Loving dad Jonathan Hogg was mauled to death by a dog who “turned on him” on May 18.
A six-year-old boy suffered potentially life-changing injuries after being mauled by an American Staffordshire terrier in South Yorkshire on May 11.
Yesterday, a baby was rushed to hospital with serious injuries after being attacked in Aldingbourne, Chichester.
While in January this year, four-year-old Alice Stones died after being attacked by a dog in her back garden in Milton Keynes.