A FRIGHTENED four-year-old girl was rushed to hospital after a large dog bit her twice in the head as she walked home from school in Poole.

Mum Zoe Lenthall told the Daily Echo how she went into a state of panic after the out-of-control animal bit her daughter, Julie, in the head and drew blood.

The attack happened as Zoe walked Julie and her other daughter, Sophie, 10, home along a popular woodland path near their Canford Heath home.

Julie, who went to stroke the tanned and patched long-haired collie cross, was bitten twice by the animal before it knocked her to the ground.

Zoe said: “He bit her twice. I just panicked when I saw all the blood.

“I picked her up and ran home because I didn’t know if the dog was going to attack her again.

“The man walking the dog just said ‘I think he thought she was going for his ball’ but he didn’t say sorry or offer to call for help.”

After Zoe got home she called the emergency services and rushed Julie to Poole Hospital’s accident and emergency department, where medics treated the head wound and administered antibiotics.

Police have since been on the lookout for the dog in the area.

The incident unfolded on the woodland walk near Darbys Lane North around 3.30pm on Friday, February 6.

Zoe said: “The guy with the dog is a regular; we normally see him there. His dog was off the lead and had a green tennis ball in its mouth.

“Julie has stroked the dog before, so on this occasion she asked if she could again.

“But he just went for her, he knocked her to the floor and his teeth actually punctured her head.”

Zoe says she’s bumped into the man since the attack, but neither of them said anything about it.

“I wanted to say something, but there was nothing I could do. I don’t have any authority to take his name and address.”

Zoe contacted the Echo because she’s worried the dog could attack another child.

“The pathway is right by a school and a lot of people, including children, use it.

“It is not right that this dog is still roaming off the lead without a muzzle.”

A Dorset Police spokesman said: “Officers are investigating an incident when a four-year-old child was attacked by a dog resulting in a head injury.

“Anyone with information about the incident of the identity of the dog owner should contact Dorset Police on 101, quoting incident reference 6:287.”