A FORMER couple have been jailed after a toddler suffered a brain injury when she was mauled by a raging German Shepherd.
The youngster had been left alone with the dog, which had just given birth to puppies, while her mum and mum’s partner were upstairs.
Getty – ContributorThe girl was mauled by a German Shepherd (stock image)[/caption]
She suffered multiple skull fractures and bleeding on the brain after the animal sank its teeth into her during the horror attack.
As she lay injured, her mum took eight minutes to call 999 and raise the alarm.
The toddler was rushed to hospital where she underwent significant surgery to drain a bleed on her brain, Yorkshire Live reports.
Medics also found she had bruising to her shoulders, back, legs and arms that were unlikely to have been caused in the dog attack.
The mum and her ex-partner, who legally can’t be named, have now been jailed for 30 months in total.
She had admitted two child cruelty charges relating to neglect and the eight-minute delay in calling the ambulance.
Her former partner pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control.
Bradford Crown Court heard how a family key worker had visited the home a week before the attack in 2018.
She warned the mum not to leave her two dogs alone with any children in the house after seeing the puppies in the kitchen.
Despite this, the girl was left alone with the female dog, which has since been destroyed.
When police attended the house, they found it was messy, unclean and had an overpowering smell of urine.
The couple were drug tested and found to have cocaine and amphetamine in their systems while looking after the children.
Recorder Patrick Palmer said the girl had been subjected to “severe neglect” before the dog attack.
Speaking about the horror, he added: “She could have died had she not received prompt medical attention.
“Appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate imprisonment.”
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