Boy, 3, hospitalised after being attacked by dogs on leads as he left playground

A three-year-old boy was mauled by two dogs as he left a playground, his dad says.

Little Luca Parry suffered a deep cut to his arm after being set upon by the dogs at Otterspool Promenade in Liverpool yesterday afternoon.

His distraught dad, Daniel, 34, from Woolton Village in the city, said the animals bit his son’s arm, leaving it pouring with blood. at about 2:20pm, the Liverpool Echo reports.

He added that he had previously seen two dogs tied up with their owner before they struck.

After rushing to give his son first aid, Daniel said the staff inside of nearby Otterspool Adventure rushed to help, as it’s claimed the dogs’ owner left the scene.

Daniel told the Echo: “My son was attacked where the gate was towards the playground. There were two dogs strapped up, with a man looking into the playground.

“They didn’t seem very feisty or anything like that. We walked around them and Luca was next to me, but all of a sudden one of the dogs ran out.

“The dog must have had an extension on its lead, because it got out so far and bit my son’s arm. I instinctively reacted, so the dog must have panicked and left him. But it happened all so fast, the dog jumped on my son.

“I noticed there was teeth marks on his forearm and I just ran to him straight away. I looked at the dog owner as if to say ‘what the h**l?’, and I looked to his forearm and he had a big cut in his arm, the teeth had gone in and there was flesh hanging out.”

He added that the park had been a “safe haven” for him and Luca throughout lockdown and they regularly visit to use the playground.

Merseyside Police said officers were investigating the incident.

Daniel, who is first aid trained, said he instinctively tried to treat his son’s wound and applied pressure, before he managed to carry him towards Otterspool Adventure, thinking staff would have a first aid kit.

He said: “I shouted someone phone an ambulance and I just grabbed him and ran to Adventure Land. Two young, really good people who worked there came to the aid of Luca.

“They dressed the wound and put a compress on his arm.”

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Luca was taken to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and treated.

Daniel claims doctors told him “it was lucky” Luca did not suffer any nerve or artery damage, from the wound.

The dad said: “He’s ok now and he’s been seen to. But the teeth have gone into his flesh, he’s got a big laceration on his arm and there’s a wound there. It’s because I was right next to him that I was able to get the dog off him straight away.”

The dogs’s owner, who is believed to be in his 40s, reportedly left the scene after the attack. The dogs were believed to be either Staffordshire Bull Terriers or American pit bulls.

He said: “I just keep thinking now, if I wasn’t right next to him, could something more have happened to him? Is someone else going to get hurt because the man has vacated?

“Is this going to happen again? It could be a lot more serious.”

In 2018, animal welfare charity Peta supported a ban on breeding pit bulls and similar dogs, calling for it to be extended to Staffordshire bull terriers.