Seventeen dogs have been seized by police in Greater Manchester after a six-year-old girl was seriously injured in a dog attack.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said three people arrested on suspicion of owning a dangerous dog had been bailed following the attack, which happened at a house in Ackers Lane, in the suburb of Carrington on Sunday.
The unnamed child was taken to hospital where she remains in a stable condition.
Four dogs were seized immediately after the attack and four more adult dogs and nine puppies have since been taken away, the force confirmed.
Police said a van was also found in south Manchester as part of the investigation and was being examined.
Detective inspector Matthew Dixon called the case a “fluid investigation” and called on people with information to contact the police.
GMP has also referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over the incident.
It comes amid an increase in dog attacks in recent years.
There were 22,000 cases of out-of-control dogs causing injury in 2022, compared to the around 16,000 cases recorded in 2018, according to the BBC.
Despite the 37 per cent rise, the dog population in the UK is estimated to have only increased by 15 per cent.
Manchester University Hospital Foundation Trust, which operates 10 hospitals in Greater Manchester, saw 225 admissions for dog attacks in 2017-18. By 2019-20 the figure was 290, a rise of 29 per cent.
