By Martin Graham
POLICE are investigating after the third attack by a dog on a child in the space of a week.
Two-year-old Gemma Horne was playing in the back garden of her uncle Ian Horne’s house at Glenburn Road in North Berwick on Saturday afternoon when the attack happened.
She was bitten on the face and sustained two puncture wounds.
Gemma’s parents rushed her to the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh for emergency treatment.
She was detained in hospital overnight for observation.
A hospital spokesperson said that her condition was stable and that she was released from hospital yesterday afternoon.
Sources said that the dog was either a collie or an Alsatian.
Lothian and Borders police have confirmed that the dog is still with the owners and that they are investigating the incident.
The attack is the third time a dog has went for a child in the space of a week.
Last Tuesday, 10-year-old Toni Clannachan from Kilmarnock was bitten in the face by an Akita dog as she played in a friend’s garden.
She needed over 100 stitches and the dog’s owner was reported to the procurator fiscal.
Last Sunday, a 10-year-old girl from Dundee was attacked by two Rottweilers as she rode her bike near to her home.
Rhianna Kidd needed surgery to repair a fractured jaw after the attack, and received treatment for bites on her arms and legs.
The dogs were put down and their owner, a 33-year-old woman, was charged under the dangerous dogs act for failing to keep the animals under control.
