Girl 'lucky to be alive' after dog attack

Eva said she was screaming at the top of her lungs when the dog attacked

The mother of a nine-year-old girl who was attacked by a dog believed to be an XL bully-type has said: "I'm very lucky that she's alive."

Eva from Birmingham needed surgery twice and spent 11 days in hospital after she was bitten on her leg, groin and arm a fortnight ago.

She described struggling to get away from the dog during the attack and said she had been "screaming at the top of my lungs".

West Midlands Police is trying to trace two dogs seen off the lead before the attack, as well as their owner.

Eva's mother, Alicia, said they had been walking home from a local shop when they saw the dogs.

"I said, 'Eva, there's two dogs, hold my hand', so she was holding my hand," she said.

The pair crossed the road, but the dogs continued to follow them.

Alicia said: "Eva ran and that's when the dog went to attack Eva from behind."

Eva said: "The bigger one got the back of my leg and then they got my thigh and then I started to scream."

Two passers-by intervened to free her and she was taken to Birmingham Children's Hospital for treatment.

Her mother said: "Although she was away from the dogs, she was still saying, 'am I going to die?' So I was reassuring her."

Eva is now back at home, but still has flashbacks of the attack and struggles to sleep.

She is also unwilling to return to the street where the attack happened because the dogs and their owner are yet to be traced.

She said: "I'm a bit scared because we don't know where he is, or the dogs. They could come over at any time."

XL bullies were banned in February 2024, making it a criminal offence to own an XL bully without an exemption certificate.

There were almost 32,000 attacks involving dogs of all breeds recorded in England and Wales last year, a 2% increase on the previous year.

West Midlands Police said it was looking at security camera footage in an attempt to trace the owner of the dogs and asked for people with information to come forward.