7-Year-Old Suffers Severe Facial Injuries After ‘Horrific’ Pit Bull Attack

A 7-year-old girl from the Australian state of Tasmania was left with severe facial injuries after she was attacked by a neighbor's dog earlier this week — a scene that authorities described as "horrific."

The girl and her similarly aged friends were playing with the pit bull cross at a neighbor's house in Devonport Monday evening when she was bitten by the animal, 7NEWS.com.au reported, citing Tasmania police inspector Steve Jones.

"Apparently the scene was quite horrific, and there was a lot of blood," Jones was quoted as saying by the outlet. Jones noted that the girl had met the dog prior to the incident.

The dog allegedly had to be pulled off from the girl by its owner, who provided the child with first aid before she was taken to her parents. She was then rushed to Launceston General Hospital with substantial injuries to her face, head and neck.

The girl reportedly underwent surgery Thursday morning, and she is likely to need further operations.

Police went to the house where the incident took place and discovered that the dog had been removed and the owner refused to disclose its location.

"Whether that was for the safety of the child or other people attending, that decision was made by the owner at the time," Jones said. The owner has since met with the authorities and surrendered the dog, which was euthanized, according to the report.

"We will be speaking to the owner of the dog and we'll be establishing if there have been any offences committed under the Dog Control Act," the inspector said.

A 50-year-old woman from Texas experienced a similar attack in late May, which resulted in her arm being partially amputated.

The Cy-Fair Fire Department responded to reports of a dog mauling in the 20900 block of Westgreen Springs Drive at around 12:45 p.m. on May 31. After spotting the victim, she was treated by emergency medical personnel at the scene. She was then transported to a hospital using a helicopter service.

The woman's hand was severely injured and had to be partially amputated after she was bitten multiple times by a dog in her backyard. Witnesses said the woman was the owner of the dog.