A mum has shared her horror as her three-year-old daughter was viciously attacked by a dog leaving her "black and blue".
Paula Gaughan lives with her three-year-old daughter Stella and regularly visits her parents, Tommy, 65 and Bridie, 60 who often babysit.
Her daughter is a lover of all animals and dreams of becoming a vet and took a strong liking to her grandparents’ neighbour’s dog, Peter, a terrier – who she would often feed treats.
After the pup passed away, she was left heartbroken and longed to have another furry friend who she could run around and play with.
Soon, a new dog appeared next door called Jack, a 10-year-old lurcher who was rescued from a local rehoming centre.
When her grandparents were babysitting one evening she was in the garden with a packet of crisps, where she proceeded to drop a few for the dog.
Paula, a teacher from Glasgow, Lanarkshire, then received a call which no parent wants to hear – that her daughter had been attacked.
"It was the worst call I had ever received and initially, I thought she had hit her head or fallen over – I didn't think for one minute she could have been attacked," she said.
“I was in total disbelief, as my brain couldn’t process the information and it was torture knowing I wasn’t there to help.
“I thought she may have a cut or some bruises on her arm, but after finding out she had suffered severe gashes to her face, I was devastated.
“My parents were looking after her one evening as I had an important meeting the next day, so this gave me a chance to prepare and relax.
“As this was a nice evening, they were outside in the garden and noticed their neighbour had cut his hedges, so helped out by clearing up.
“Upon his return, he thanked my parents and started chatting with them.
“Stella was eating a packet of crisps and was giving the crumbs to the dog, where she tipped them out onto the floor so he could easily get to them.
“There was no indication the dog was unhappy, as he was wagging his tail – but then she proceeded to place her head on his back.
“Suddenly, he growled and before my mum could get a word in, he bit Stella.”
The three-year-old was rushed to Hairmyres hospital and upon arriving, it was clear how severe her injuries were – with dog teeth marks situated right below her eye.
Paula, who shared a clip of her daughter’s injuries with her 30,000 followers on Instagram (@montessoriplaying ), said: “She was worse than I had expected, especially given how close the bite marks were to her eye.
“The medical team kept saying she was so lucky, as if the dog’s teeth sunk in slightly higher, her eye would’ve popped out.
“Her face was black and blue with bruising and she also had a concussion as she fell over onto the concrete due to the dog’s force.
“She had another long gash down her cheek, which pulls on the skin and causes a dimple-like indentation – where she later suffered an infection.
“She started weeping puss and gunge out of her wound and they put her on strong antibiotics.
“Due to the severity, she was given an adult dose as well as a tetanus injection and, as she’s so tiny, she started suffering a bad reaction where she was left bed bound.”
Two weeks later, she was referred to the trauma centre at their local children’s hospital where they were told she should have received surgery immediately.
As a result, she will likely suffer scarring – but plans for plastic surgery to be performed in a bid to “save” her face will take place in a few months.
