A six-year-old boy has been scarred for life after being mauled by a Bull Mastiff which shook him about "like a rag doll."

And today as his mother spoke of her fears that the animal could strike again, a council chief has ordered a city wide blitz on stray dogs.

Allan Sproat had to have 19 stitches in his left hand, arm and shoulder after the attack and still has to wear protective bandages after the dog shook him as his pals tried to beat it off with sticks. He is still off school.

The incident is the third attack by dogs in the past six weeks. In the previous two incidents, ten-year-old Jolene Lamont needed more than 30 stitches in her arm when she was bitten by a German Shepherd-Japanese Akito cross breed, and Bradford scrap yard owner Parvaz Mohammed Khan was savaged by his own dogs.

Now newly-elected chairman of the Council's housing and environment protection committee Councillor Jim O'Neill has ordered and immediate crackdown on dangerous dogs.

Allan's mother Carol said she reported the attack to Toller Lane Police ten days ago but the animal had not been seized.

Mrs Sproat said the dog turned on Allan as he sat on a wall outside his home in Walker Drive, Girlington, around teatime on Sunday, May 2.

The mum-of-three said: "I was inside and then I heard a scream. As I ran outside some children were carrying Allan towards the house.

"He was covered in blood and in shock. The kids said the dog was shaking him about like a rag doll. Some of them had tried to help him by hitting the dog with a stick.

"I drove him to Bradford Royal Infirmary but they couldn't put the stitches in using local anaesthetic because the wounds were so bad.

"They took him down to the operating theatre to put him to sleep before they could put the stitches in. He's got 19 external stitches, four in his left hand and the rest at the top of his left arm and shoulder."

Allan, six, said: "The dog jumped up and knocked me off the wall and bit me two times on the arm. The boys were whacking it with a lead and a girl was hitting it with a stick. It let go and I was just sitting there crying and bleeding. He bit through my Newcastle United football shirt but my mum says she'll buy me another.

"I still like dogs but I am frightened of the big ones now."

Councillor O'Neill: "I have ordered an area by area blitz on places where we know stray dogs are a problem. I have also ordered an increase in prosecutions for dog fouling."

Toller Lane's Chief Inspector Des Broster said: "We will be trying to seize the dog once it's been properly identified."

In another incident involving dogs in the past few weeks, residents in Bierley were warned about a pack of stray dogs responsible for slaughtering family pets.

In one case seven-year-old Rhys Fowler's guinea pig was dug out of its hutch and torn apart by the animals.

Three months ago, 12-year-old Emma Duce escaped serious injury when she was bitten by a border collie cross outside her home in Baildon.

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