A THREE-year-old boy had part of his ear ripped off by a Great Dane during a horrific incident last night.

The boy was mauled by the dog while he was riding his bike on Antill St, Mayfield, in Newcastle in NSW, at about 6.30pm. He was with his mother and older sister at the time of the attack.

The dog ran towards him from a nearby property and began biting the boy. He was rushed to John Hunter Hospital with non-life threatening wounds to his face, neck and upper back. The toddler had surgery on his wounds this morning.

Detective Acting Inspector Jeffrey Little says the Great Dane ran onto the street through an open gate before biting the back of the toddler’s neck and ear.

The three-year-old had surgery “to attach part of his ear”, the detective said, before adding his injuries weren’t life-threatening.

Det Act Insp Little said there was “every chance” the dog would be destroyed following an investigation by the local council.

There was “no suggestion” the dog involved had attacked anyone before.

“It’s not a common theme for us to go to an attack by a Great Dane,” the detective told reporters in Newcastle.

“But the fact remains ... every dog has the potential, large or small, to attack.”

It is the third incident involving a dog and a young child since the weekend.

Kamillah Jones was in a stroller in the NSW town of Inverell on Saturday when a rottweiler attacked her.

She was rushed to Inverell District Hospital in an ambulance, but her injuries were so severe she couldn’t be saved.

Inverell local Mindy Davis was at the hospital when she heard Kamillah’s parents screaming with grief.

“We were right next to it all in the emergency ward when they tried tirelessly to resuscitate her,” she wrote on Facebook. “It was heartbreaking hearing the parents screaming when she passed away.”

The dog responsible for that attack has been destroyed.

MORE: What to do when a dog attacks?

There was another attack on Sunday, this time in Melbourne, where a 10-year-old girl was seriously injured.

That attack happened while her parents were reportedly at the gym.

Jimmy Baird was watching television at home with his wife in suburban Berwick, in Victoria’s southeast, on Sunday night when he heard screaming from next door.

“I heard screaming,” he told 3AW on Monday morning. He said he saw a “massive frothing head coming through the door” when he went to inspect.

“It was out of control. The dog was going berserk. We distracted the dog while we got the girl out.”

His wife Kerrie said the victim was “covered in blood” and had “bite and puncture marks all over her body”.

The child suffered serious injuries including bites and lacerations and is believed to have lost an ear in the attack. She was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious condition.

— with AAP.