FOUR-year-old George Brown was in surgery for four hours after being attacked by a bulldog. The dog, which had been re-homed from Wood Green Animal Shelters, had previously attacked George and two other children on May 24. Police said yesterday the inci

FOUR-year-old George Brown was in surgery for four hours after being attacked by a bulldog.

The dog, which had been re-homed from Wood Green Animal Shelters, had previously attacked George and two other children on May 24.

Police said yesterday the incidents had been investigated and the file passed to the Crown Prosecution Service. However, a decision was still pending when the dog attacked again.

The American Bulldog, called Finn, was returned to Wood Green, and put down.

George, who was four in June, had 200 stitches in his face, and is due to return to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge on Saturday for plastic surgery.

The little boy was playing football with older children outside his home in Norfolk Road, Huntingdon, on Monday evening around 7pm, when the dog, owned by a neighbour, ran at him pushing him over and then seized his face.

George was taken by ambulance, first to Hinchingbrooke Hospital to be stabilised, and then to Addenbrooke's where his face was reconstructed. His parents brought him home yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) and he will undergo further surgery at the weekend.

A 15-year-old girl who was looking after him, Michaela Hillyard, said: "The dog tripped its owner over and then went straight through about 10 kids and straight at George.

"He got hold of his head and I grabbed George but the dog kept going for him and he grabbed him out of my arms. He bit his belly and he pulled half of his cheek off, and then the owner got him off."

George's mother Danielle, said: "It's the worst thing I have ever seen. It was worse than a horror film."

She said George's five-year-old sister Sami had come running in to say: "Mummy, the dog's out again."

She added: "By the time I got to the door, I could see George's face covered in blood. I sat on the step with him and he was haemorrhaging. I nearly fainted and my mother-in-law took over from me.

"This dog had gone for children before. It should not have been out without a muzzle, and why did the Crown Prosecution Service wait so long to take a decision?"

A police spokesman confirmed yesterday that the dog, owned by another family in Norfolk Road, had knocked over three children, including George, on May 24, causing minor injuries. George had suffered scratches to his back.

A spokesman for Wood Green said the dog had been given a "clean history" when it was brought into the shelter in Godmanchester.

She said the dog had been with its current owners for eight months.

"It had been living with a family who have children aged four and seven, and as far as we knew it was fine.

"We are desperately sorry to hear what has happened to this child and would like to express our deepest sympathy to the little boy and his family."

The dog's owner, who did not want to be named, said: "I couldn't help what happened. I have now had the dog put down."

He said the previous attacks were more a matter of "clawing" than bites.

* The CPS was unavailable for comment as The Hunts Post went to press.