A furious mum claims a "cowardly" dog owner fled after his pet attacked her eight-year-old son in a Greater Manchester park.
Katie Bradshaw, 30, claims her son Noah was walking with his sister and teenage neighbours in the Southport park when he was approached by a German Shepherd which was off its lead.
They had been walking through Abney Hall Park at around 7.45pm Sunday when the dog made a beeline for them.
“Noah thought the dog was trying to be friendly, he put his hand out to say ‘stop’ when it was running up to him,” Katie told the Manchester Evening News.
“Because he’s turned round, the dog has jumped up and taken a chunk out of his back.
“[His friends] said the dog was there for five to seven seconds and then the owner got her off.”
After putting the dog back on its lead, Katie says the owner "ran off", despite the fact Noah was crying.
She added: “Noah was hysterically crying his eyes out.
"He has pulled up his top and the owner said it was only a scratch. Then he ran off with the dog.
“We took him to A&E. He’s on really strong antibiotics and has to have community nurses come and re-dress it.
“I am livid.”
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Katie also says her son, who goes to Cheadle Heath Primary School, has shown signs of shock since being discharged from hospital.
The mum-of-three added: “I am worried for him as he is so outgoing. He said to me, ‘Mum I am not cold, but I can’t stop shaking’.
“If he had done something to antagonise the dog, I could [understand], but he was walking away from it.”
Asked if she had a message for the owner, she said: “Come forward, coward. How would you like it if it was your son?
“How dare he leave my son wounded? What a cowardly thing to do.
"He is a fully grown man, I think it’s absolutely disgusting.
“Noah is petrified. We as a family will not stop until he is found, we will go to the lengths we need to to find him and have him named and shamed.”
The incident has been reported to Greater Manchester Police, a spokesman said.
No arrests have been made.
