Attacks by dangerous dogs rise sharply to 4,000

Hospitals are treating record numbers of people, including children, attacked by savage dogs, new figures reveal.

Doctors saw nearly 4,000 patients last year with bites or more serious wounds - nearly double the number of casualties of four years ago.

There has also been a worrying rise in the number of children savaged by outof-control animals. In London 127 children needed hospital treatment last year compared with only 58 in 2003.

The Liberal Democrats who obtained the figures through a parliamentary answer are now calling for laws on dangerous dogs to be overhauled.

Norman Lamb, Lib-Dem health spokesman, said: "There's a worrying trend in some areas of using dangerous dogs as fashion accessories or, worse, as weapons. Dogs often only become violent as a result of mistreatment by owners or because of a failure to train them properly." Fighting breeds including pit-bulls are banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

There has been a spate of dog attacks including the death last year of five-yearold Ellie Lawrenson who was mauled at her grandmother's home on New Year's Day by a pit-bull type dog, receiving severe head and neck injuries.