Poor girl: Megan is pictured here recovering in hospital after the attack which happened while she was staying at her grandmother's house.
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A dog owner has escaped prosecution after their Rottweiler mauled a four-year-old girl's face.
Megan Fortune had to have 12 stitches and was left traumatized after the savage attack at her grandmother's home in Suffolk.
But because the attack happened on private land, the law deems no offence was committed, so its owner will not be brought to justice.
Brutally savaged: Megan Fortune, 4, had to have 12 stitches after a Rottweiler attacked her in the face but the dog's owner will not face prosecution.
Currently owners can only be prosecuted if a dog attack occurs on public land as opposed to private property but this is set to change under new rules proposed by Defra, the government's environment agency.
The girls mother, Elizabeth Fortune, 25, is demanding an immediate change in the law.
She said: 'I just find it hard to believe that a dog can do that, let alone to a child, and there are no repercussions.'
The dog, believed to be a Rottweiler-German Shepherd cross, bit her while she was staying at her grandmother's home in Felixstowe.
Her grandmother, Mary Hockley, was looking after the dog for a friend when it suddenly mauled the toddler.
A painful close-up of Megan's horrifically injured eye. She had to have 12 stitches
Miss Fortune reported the incident to the police but she was told that because the animal was in a private place, no offence had taken place under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Miss Fortune said: 'i think it's ridiculous. I would absolutely love a change in the law.
'Even if it said the dog would need to be muzzled near children, I believe there needs to be something changed because I find it amazing a dog can do that and nothing can be done about it.'
She added: 'He has always been a lovely dog. We have had a lot of contact with him over the past four years.
'He has never shown any sign of aggression which is why it came as such a shock - we were just completely gobsmacked.'
Distraught Megan was taken in agony to Ipswich Hospital and cosmetic surgeons had to be brought in to tend to her wounds.
It took them more than an hour to try and repair the damage.
Megan had to have stitches above and below her eye and on her jaw line and had to stay in hospital overnight.
Megan is now making a good recovery but Miss Fortune said she was traumatized after she was savaged.
She said: 'She knew the dog quite well, I don't think she could understand why he had done that. I worry it could have been so much worse.'
The dog's owner refused to comment.
Animal Welfare Minister, Lord Taylor of Holbeach, told MailOnline: 'Dog attacks are terrible for the victims and we are determined to crack down on people who fail to keep their dogs under control.
'Earlier this year we announced we will be changing the law so that if a dog mauls someone on private property the owner will face prosecution, as already happens in public areas.'
In June a two-year-old boy was 'ripped to pieces' by a Staffordshire bull terrier.
The attack was so brutal that the toddler, Kieron Guess, was critically ill and in an induced coma after undergoing surgery for seven hours.
The dog owner, Garfield King, was not charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Wiltshire Police said that because the dog was in a privately owned garden at the time of the incident, the Act did not apply.
And in April a five-year-old girl was left scarred for life after she was attacked by an Alsatian.
Abbie Varrow, from Essex, was jumping up and down on a trampoline close to a fence at a friend’s house when the dog leapt up from a neighbour’s garden and seized her face in its jaws.
The attack lasted a matter of seconds but it took surgeons two hours to close the wounds with 60 stitches. The nerves in her nose have been damaged.
Alyson Varrow, her mother said at the time she wanted the dog's owners brought to justice.
She called for a return to dog licensing, which was abolished in the UK in 1987.
Feeling better: Megan, right, and her mother Elizabeth nurses her better, left. Elizabeth wants a change in the law to stop dog attacking anyone else.
Bruised: Megan smiles bravely as she recovers from the traumatic incident.
WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY ABOUT DOG ATTACKS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY?
Rottweiler-German Shepherd cross: The same breed of dog that attacked four-year-old Megan
Under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, dog owners cannot be prosecuted if their animal attacks someone on private property.
This has raised controversy, especially when it comes to the case of police officers who are attacked by dogs when making an arrest in a suspect’s home and the owner escapes prosecution.
Postal workers, nurses and social workers, who are all lawfully entitled to be on private property, are also affected by the rules.
Currently, the law says only owners can only be prosecuted if a dog attack occurs on public land, not in places such as in family homes.
Four children and one adult were killed in dog attacks in private homes between 2007 and 2010.
The number of injuries has more than doubled from 2,915 in 1997 to 6,118 in 2010.
The Communication Workers Union launched a ‘Bite Back’ campaign to raise awareness of responsible dog ownership and to protect victims attacked on private property in 2008.
Current laws should be changed however to cover attacks on private property.
Under new rules proposed by Defra, the environment agency, but not yet put in force, courts will have the power to jail dog owners for two years or impose a £5,000 fine if animals cause injuries while 'dangerously out of control' in their own homes.
A Defra spokesman told MailOnline: 'It is fully our intention to extend the law to include private property. We are hoping to make a further announcement soon.'
A date has not yet been set for the proposals to be implemented.
Culled from The Daily Mail UK.
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