A four-year-old girl was killed yesterday evening by an Amstaff dog in Tel Aviv - the first time in Israeli history a person has been killed in a dog attack.

Police say the dog belonged to friends of the family, who left the animal in their care some two weeks ago.

Magen David Adom emergency medical services personnel who reported to the distress call on Bar-Lev Street, in Tel Aviv's Kfar Shalem neighborhood, reported that the girl was bitten in the neck. The MDA team tried unsuccessfully to revive the girl, and declared her dead several minutes after it arrived on the scene.

A neighbor of the girl's family, said the tragedy occurred around 6:30 P.M. "I heard horrible screams. The mother was saying: `My girl is dead. The dog ate her. Help us!'"

At the time of the incident, the mother and her two daughters, aged four and one, were in the family's third-floor apartment.

One of the family's neighbors said: "Today this happened in an apartment. Tomorrow it'll be on the street. The dogs need to be restrained. It's frightening to walk in this neighborhood when the dogs roam around freely."

Yesterday's attack was the third incident this year in which dogs have seriously attacked children. Several weeks ago, an Amstaff bit an 8-year-old boy in the face. Last February, a Rottweiler attacked a 5-year-old girl in Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood.

According to a study conducted in the U.S. by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, dog attacks caused 279 deaths in America between the years 1979-1996. Out of these incidents, 69 deaths were attributed to Amstaffs. The second most vicious dog according to this study was the Rottweiler - 29 deaths were attributed to this breed.

Knesset coalition whip MK Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) yesterday submitted a proposal to ban ownership of Amstaffs, Rottweilers and Pitbulls. Sa'ar said that following yesterday's tragedy, he will attempt to expedite legislation of his proposed bill.

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