Toddler 'lucky not to lose eye' after Staffie attack

Jemma Horn nearly lost her left eye after the dog reportedly turned on her at a family get-together on Saturday afternoon.

The two-year-old was playing with her twin brother Robbie in her grandmother Margaret's garden in North Berwick when the attack took place.

Her dad Robert, 43, from Drylaw, was standing next to Jemma when the terrier, named Moses, attacked her, cutting open her nose and slicing under her eye.

He rushed his daughter to the city's Sick Kids hospital where doctors sewed her nose back together.

She received several stitches to the septum under the tip of her nose and to a wound just under her left eye.

The youngster is the third child in a week to have been savaged by a dog following two separate incidents in Kilmarnock and Dundee.

Moses belongs to Ann Kidd, a friend of Jemma's aunt, it was reported today.

Mr Horn said the dog that nearly cost his daughter her eyesight should be put down.

He reportedly said: "The dog should be destroyed.

"Jemma was crying because she was scared of the dog. Moses was circling her and I was telling her the dog wouldn't bite.

"Ann tried to grab hold of him but he lurched at Jemma.

"He bit her twice on the face, ripping her nose and cheek."

Mr Horn said that he is still "in shock" at what has happened to his daughter.

He added: "There was blood everywhere and her nose was wide open. We're lucky she's still with us and she was lucky not to lose her left eye.

"You never think something like this will happen to you.

"You just have to look at my daughter's face to see the damage."

Ms Kidd, of Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, reportedly said her dog was trying to play with Jemma.

She said: "Her dad was trying to get her to pet it and it jumped up on her to try to lick her.

"Its paw caught her face and cut her.

"I am distraught about it. I hope the wee girl is OK. It was an accident, the dog is not vicious."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police said the incident is now being investigated.

When asked if she thought the dog should be put down, Ms Kidd said: "We are waiting to see what the police say. Until then people should just back off."

Last Sunday, 10-year-old Rhianna Kidd was viciously attacked by two Rottweilers as she cycled to her grandmother's house in Dundee.

Rhianna's grandmother Irene Kidd was among those who tried to help Rhianna after one dog knocked her from her bike and set upon her.

The youngster has since had to undergo plastic surgery after the horrific attack left her with a broken jaw and deep cuts to her body.

On Tuesday, Toni Clannachan, 10, had to receive 100 stitches to her face was torn apart by a Japanese Akita fighting dog in a garden in Kilmarnock.