Toddler’s nose ripped from single bite by “best friend” pet dog

Toddler’s nose ripped from single bite by “best friend” pet dog

Toddler’s nose ripped from single bite by “best friend” pet dog

A mother has issued a warning to other parents after her toddler’s nose was badly ripped from a single bite by a pet dog, the boy’s best friends.

Jodie Griffiths has shared pictures of her son’s face as a warning to other parents saying that even the best pet can be unpredictable with their dog Blizzard “ripping off all his nose” in an unprovoked attack.

According to Griffiths, two-year-old Romy and his siblings had been playing in the living room with their new flying helicopter toys as the eight-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier Cross slept on the couch nearby.

His father, Daniel Griffiths, 32, turned away for a moment only to hear the child scream out. Turning around he saw Romy covered in blood after a single bite tore through his nose.

Ultrasound Assistant Ms Griffiths, from Walsall, in the West Midlands, said: “I was at work and got a call from my partner saying the dog had bit the baby. I was very panicked and couldn’t believe it. I still find it hard to get my head round it now.

“When I got home Romy was covered in blood and my partner was covered in his blood as well.”

The mother of eight and her partner took Romy to New Croft Hospital in Wolverhampton. After being seen in triage he was transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where he underwent surgery the following day to stitch his nose back together.

What was meant to be a two-hour operation ended up taking five hours due to the extensive damage to the little boy’s face, followed by two nights recovery in hospital..

Griffiths said the attack which happened on December 27th, fractured his jaw, ripped all of his nose, ripped out three teeth from the root requiring him to have hundreds and hundreds of stitches. .

“The damage was really bad on the inside of his nose and they said if the dog had bit down a little bit more his whole nose would have been bitten off.”

The couple said that Blizzard had been part of the family for most of his eight years. They got him as a puppy and he had become the children’s best friend.

Doctors have warned that Romy may need another operation by the time he is four and again when he is a teenager to reshape his nose and nostrils to his growing face, as it is unlikely it will grow in the same way that he will.

Ms Griffiths hopes to warn other parents about the risks of having a dog around children, saying: “I want to raise awareness and I wouldn’t advise anyone with kids having a dog because even if it’s an accident it can still happen.

“People love their dogs and say ‘my dog would never do that’ but we used to say the same.”

The police have agreed to let Blizzard stay with the family after describing the attack as an accident, however Griffiths has said she could never trust a dog again. As a result they have given him up for adoption.

However following a “thorough assessment” it was determined he could not be rehomed due to the nature of the incident, and was humanely destroyed.

The warning by Griffiths after her toddler’s nose ripped from single bite by his “best friend”, a pet Staffordshire terrier, comes with a caveat in terms of the breed. Dogs can be best friends, but the extent of that friendship depends on the breed according to police and people need to take care when making their choice for a family pet.


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Written by

Peter McLaren-Kennedy

Originally from South Africa, Peter is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for the Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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