The mother of a Suffolk girl who was hospitalised after being attacked by a dog has said more needs to be done to crack down on dog owners.
The news comes as Suffolk police revealed that the out-of-control dog shot by armed officers in Ipswich in July was an American bully XL, the breed the Home Secretary is pushing to ban.
Eight-year-old Annabell Rowdon, from Haverhill, was bitten by a large dog, believed to be an Anatolian Shepherd, in the village of Horseheath, Cambridgeshire in June.
She was rushed to Addenbrookes hospital, Cambridge, where she was in surgery for five hours after breaking both bones in her forearm and suffering nine deep cuts.
Despite the possibility that Annabell may need plastic surgery, her mother Sonia believes that there are no "bad dogs, just bad owners".
Sonia Rowdon said: “The dog that attacked my daughter was not a bully XL. I do not think that penalising one breed is fair at all.
“I have had bully breeds in the past. I had one when my daughter was a newborn, and she was the best dog ever.
“But I do think that everyone who has a dog should have a licence now and more should be done with them wearing the appropriate equipment – i.e. harnesses and Haltis. I do not mean muzzles.
“Both my dogs have a harness and a muzzle, and I have large breeds. But blame is always directed at one breed, and I think that is totally unfair because any dog can be dangerous, as my daughter found out.
“I do not necessarily think there is a bad dog, there are bad owners, the way they treat their dogs and bring them up.”
Ms Rowdon added that Annabell is “recovering well” but may need plastic surgery.
She said: “Annabell has had her cast taken off and her wounds are healing nicely. We have an appointment next week because she is supposed to be having her pins taken out and they're going to see if she needs plastic surgery or not.
"It is still ongoing, but she has pretty much full mobility at the wound. It looks so well considering where we were four months ago.
“Annabell is left-handed, but she is used to it now - she is back at school, able to write with it. She still has a bit of soreness and tenderness, which is to be expected, but nothing really stops her.”
Last week, Home Secretary Suella Braverman commissioned “urgent advice” on outlawing the American bully XL breed.
The Home Secretary made the announcement on Twitter this weekend after an attack on an 11-year-old girl in Birmingham.
She wrote that the breed is a “clear and lethal danger” to children and should be added to the list of banned breeds in the UK, drawn up by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Today (Monday, September 11), a spokesperson for Suffolk police confirmed the breed of the dog shot near Orwell Country Park was the same breed the Home Secretary is looking to ban.
The dog was put down in July after reports of a dog that had attacked two people and another dog on the shoreline.
Officers and a dog handler at the scene found the dog to be unstable and in extreme distress and were not able to bring it safely under control.
Today, Suffolk police confirmed that enquiries into the incident were ongoing.
Therese Coffey, MP for Suffolk Coastal and Secretary of State for Defra, was contacted but did not comment, instead directing us to her department for comment.
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