'Every time I close my eyes I can see it': Father relives moment his toddler's jaw was ripped off by family dog



The father of a two-year-old girl mauled by the family dog told today how he desperately tried to wrestle the animal off his daughter.

Taylor Leadbeater is in a critical condition and undergoing facial reconstruction surgery after her jaw was ripped from her face by the French Bullmastiff.

Her father Gareth Sim, 31, described how he punched the dog repeatedly and then carried Taylor, who was bleeding profusely, to a neighbour's house to call for help.

Horrific attack: Taylor Leadbeater was mauled by a family pet, a French Bullmastiff, as she played in her bedroom. Her father wrestled the dog off her



The dog attack on two-year-old Taylor Leadbeater occured in a house on Churchbury Road in Eltham on Monday afternoon

But Mr Sim said he felt he had to go back to the house 'to sort the dog out'.

'Taylor was in her room playing with her toys. I had turned away for two seconds and heard a growl,' Mr Sim told the Standard.

'The next thing I knew the dog had Taylor on the floor and it was biting her face.

'I punched him until he let her go. When I picked her up she wasn’t even screaming - she must have been in shock. Her face was covered in blood. Every time I close my eyes I can see it.



'I took her to a neighbour’s house to call for help but then I felt I had to leave her and go back to sort out the dog.



'That’s when I grabbed the kitchen knife and stabbed the dog three or four times until he died.'

Taylor was taken to hospital and has had 70 stitches put into her face after an operation.

Her mother Charlene Leadbeater, 31, said Taylor was due to undergo another operation to deep wounds below her eye today. The girl's parents, and brother Ronnie, six, were at her side last night. The male dog is not an illegal breed but had been kept at the family’s home with a female French Bullmastiff who is in season and an Alsatian.







Mr Sim said he wanted to campaign for all dangerous dogs to be made illegal.



'This was a dangerous dog. These types of animal should not be anywhere near children. I have told the police to put down my alsatian Rex as well.'



Taylor's grandmother Alison Leadbeater said her daughter had asked vets to put the dog down two weeks ago after it bit her brother Gary’s hand, but they had refused.

She said: ‘Taylor was playing with the drawers and toys in her bedroom and the dog suddenly snapped.

‘Her father Gareth heard him growl and grabbed the dog off of her, but it was too late.

‘Taylor has serious facial injuries and has already had 70 stitches following one operation. Her bone structure is fine, but there is a lot of damage to her face. She will have to have a lot of operations.’

FRENCH BULLMASTIFF FACTS

The French Bullmastiff is also referred to as the Dogue de Bordeaux and the Bordeaux Bulldog and is known as the National Guard Dog of France Their typical weight ranges from 120 to 145lbs, while their height is usually between 23 and 30 inches







French Bullmastiffs need to be sufficiently exercised and taken on long daily walks to prevent them developing behaviour issues



The breed has served as a war dog, flock guardian, cattle herder, guard dog, trained to bait bulls, bears, and jaguars, and a hunter of boars



They have a life expectancy of 10 to 12 years

Miss Leadbeater said vets had offered to ‘retrain’ the dog after her daughter had asked for it to be put down because of its recent aggressive behaviour.



She claimed vets told the family that the breed was not illegal and not normally aggressive.

‘The dog was a family pet and had been fine for years’, she added.

‘He only started getting aggressive recently when he bit my son’s hand.



Miss Leadbeater said she was worried about his behaviour and spoke to the vets as she was concerned about the children.

‘But they said they could retrain the animal and they could not put it down.



'The dog was lovely but turned into a killing machine because of how aggressive it was getting.'

A next-door neighbour told how his wife saw the incident.

The man told the Standard: 'He was playing with the dog and he turned away and the dog bit the girl on the face.

'He chased the dog out into the garden and was punching and kicking it and that's where he stabbed it with a knife.]

'My wife saw that and started screaming. We haven't been living here very long and their dogs do bark a lot and don't get on with the other dogs in the street.'

The French Bullmastiff breed is not covered under the Dangerous Dogs act.



The family's other two dogs have been taken from their semi-detached house in Eltham, South London, and placed into police care while they are investigating. They are not described as dangerous.

It is understood the police received assistance from the RSPCA.

The incident comes amid growing concern about the use of dangerous dogs as status symbols and weapons.

Last week, Chrisdian Johnson, 22, was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 24 years, after using his powerfully-built pitbull-cross dog as a weapon to savage 16-year-old Seyi Ogunyemi.

As his slightly-built victim lay helpless on the ground, Johnson carried out a 'vicious murder' with a knife before fleeing the scene covered in blood.

Judge Christopher Moss, sentencing, told Johnson the dog had been used as a 'fearsome' weapon - 'trained to attack and bring down your prey'.

The French bullmastiff - also called the Bordeaux Bulldog - is a relatively short, stocky mastiff.

According to breeders it usually has a good and calm temperament. They are renowned for being extremely loyal, patient and devoted.

Fearless and confrontational with strangers, they make a first class watch and guard dog.

They can be aggressive to other dogs unless they are socialised from an early age. The breed is usually gentle with children.