'How many more?' asks mother as dog savages face of 10-year-old girl

A MOTHER whose daughter was killed by a rottweiler is to write to Prime Minister David Cameron, calling for all powerful dogs to be muzzled, following the second serious dog attack on a child in Scotland in three days.

Veronica Lynch, from Dundee, lost her 11-year-old daughter Kellie in 1989 when she was savaged to death by two rottweilers while holidaying in Argyll.

Mrs Lynch played a leading role in the campaign which led to the introduction of the Dangerous Dogs Act in 1991. But she said yesterday that the latest attack, in which a ten-year-old girl suffered horrific facial injuries after being savaged by an akita dog, showed laws on dog control were powerless to prevent children being killed or seriously injured by powerful breeds.

Toni Clannachan was said to be stable in Kilmarnock's Crosshouse Hospital last night after being bitten on the face by an akita while playing in a school friend's garden on Tuesday.

She has required more than 100 stitches to her face. On Sunday, another ten year-old girl, Rhianna Kidd, was attacked by two rottweilers while riding her bike to her grandmother's home in Dundee.

Mrs Lynch said fundamental change in the law was required to prevent further deaths and horrific injuries.

But she warned: "I don't think that even another child's death will make much difference.

"Since Kellie died in 1989, ten children have been killed by dogs in the UK - four by rottweilers.

"How many deaths do they need before they admit they have problem on our streets?"

Mrs Lynch, who had called unsuccessfully for rottweilers, alsatians, dobermanns and working collies to be included in the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, claimed that the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act, due to come into force next February, did not go nearly far enough to prevent the risk of further dog attacks on children.

The new legislation will give councils greater powers to impose penalties, with a focus on the "deed and not the breed" of the dog, and will also extend criminal liability of an owner to all places where dogs are seen to be out of control, rather than just public spaces. The aim is to shift the emphasis towards owner responsibility and tackling dangerous dog aggression at the earliest stage of bad behaviour.

Mrs Lynch said: "The new laws will do nothing to stop the sort of attacks we have had in the past few days.

"We need a UK-wide law. And the only thing that is going to work is if all powerful dogs, such as rottweilers, have to be muzzled at all times in public places and all dogs, irrespective of their breed, have to kept on a lead in public places.

"And if a dog attacks anyone, as a matter of course, it should be put down - without the need for court action."

She added: "That is the only way prevent tragedies like what happened to Kellie and Rhianna and Toni."

The need for changes in the dog laws throughout Britain was also backed by the Kennel Club.

Caroline Kisko, its communications director, said: "We must act now and change the sadly ineffective dangerous dogs legislation across the whole of the UK if we are to prevent further tragedies from occurring like the ones which resulted in the deaths of John Paul Massey, Ellie Lawrenson and others.

"This dog attack is said to have involved a akita, just days after another tragic attack involving a pair of rottweilers.

"This simply proves that any breed of dog can be dangerous if it is in the wrong hands.

"People deserve to feel safe around dogs and new legislation cannot come soon enough."