A seven-year-old girl was left scarred for life after being viciously mauled by an Akita dog.
Kiera Young had her lip ripped off after stroking the dog while her grandmother took her out to celebrate a relative's birthday.
The youngster, who has autism , was petting the mutt when it suddenly launched at her.
Kiera's grandmother Sharon, 57, watched in horror as the snarling hound sank its fangs into the little girl's face.
Practical joker accidentally hanged himself with tracksuit bottoms when stunt goes tragically wrong
The family rushed Kiera to hospital where she underwent a three-hour operation to stitch her lip back together but doctors warned she will be permanently scarred.
Kiera and her family had travelled to celebrate Sharon's sister's birthday when she was mauled.
While they walked to the pub, Kiera spotted the animal outside and, after asking the owners' permission, stroked the dog.
Benefits cheat mum 'too frail to dress herself' went ice skating and horse riding
Sharon, from Nottingham, said: "We had gone down to Boston, Lincolnshire, for my sister's 60th Birthday and we had gone for a drink at the Witham Tavern.
"I walked to the pub with other family members, whilst Kiera went down in my sister's car.
"She had approached a couple who were sitting outside the pub with their dog, a black-and-white Akita.
Rotting body of foal found in maggot-infested Ayrshire stables with other horses covered in lice
"They told her the dog was child friendly and had been told it was fine to stroke, so she petted it.
"The couple went in and then came out again, and Kiera went back and again was told it was fine, but when she stroked it a second time, it attacked her face.
"The owners pulled it back and that caused the gum to pull away from her lip.
"I could hear her screaming from the other side of the river and just ran to her.
"When I got there, I just wanted to get her to hospital.
"My nephew and I rushed her to the Pilgrim Hospital in his car rather than wait for the ambulance.
"She was screaming and in a lot of pain.
"They cleaned up the wound but told she would need to have surgery the next day at Lincolnshire Hospital.
"Kiera was operated on for around about three hours.
"She's now out and recovering well, she's a bit better but is still wary of dogs.
"We've told her that not all dogs are the same but it will take some time for her to get over what's happened.
"She's still scared of dogs and can't eat very well as the injury went down to her bone.
"I had to re-home our chocolate Labrador called Reggie because Kiera was frightened of it.
"She loved Reggie before the attack, they would play in the garden and she would feed him and brush him.
"But she started to get wary of him because he was getting bigger.
"She now backs off and keeps her distance when we see dogs in the street.
"She seems to have been mentally scarred by the incident and we are doing our best to help her."
Police were called following the attack on February 27 but have now told the family they are not pressing charges.
Sharon added: "The police asked if I wanted to press charges, and I said yes, but they came back to me last week and said they are not pressing charges because the dog has showed no form of aggression before.
"How many times does it have to do something like this before you can do anything?
"The dog could have easily gone for her throat.
"How many times does this need to happen before the police do something?"
