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A 20-year-old Wingham man is facing several charges under the Dog Owners’ Liability Act after an American Staffordshire Terrier bit three children at a private school in what provincial police are calling a “vicious” dog attack.

The three victims, ages four, eight and 16, sustained injuries from dog bites Nov. 13 at the school run by the Wingham Baptist Church on John Street West.

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The dog had slipped its collar and bolted from the owner’s residence nearby, Huron County OPP said in a statement Wednesday.

A father of one of the children and the sister of another stepped in to fend off the attack, but it continued until the owner arrived and was able to bring the dog to heel. The dog was “out of control” until that point, police said.

The owner faces three charges of failing to prevent a dog from biting or attacking a person, and one count of owning a pit bull.

The three injured children were treated at hospital and released later the same day. The accused will appear in court Dec. 3.

Rick Nicholls, the MPP for Chatham-Kent-Leamington, tabled a private-member’s bill last week that would overturn Ontario’s breed-specific legislation that makes owning a pit bull illegal in Ontario. Instead, the Progressive Conservative politician wants to create a “breed-neutral” legal framework.

The Dog Owners’ Liability Act was passed in 2005 under the Dalton McGuinty Liberals.