Sandra McKevitt has recalled the horror moment her niece Ella was savaged by American Bully dogs in Liverpool (Picture: BBC-Mercury)

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A women has spoken about the horrifying moment five dogs belonging to a neighbour mauled her two-year-old niece in her back garden.

Sandra McKevitt could only watch in horror as the animals attacked her niece Ella at the property in Toxteth, Liverpool, on May 7, 2016.

Ms McKevitt said the American Bully dogs, a cross between American bulldogs and mastiffs, were ‘tearing away at her like she was a piece of meat’.


They belonged to puppy farm owner Andrew McGowan, who kept up to 18 American Bully pets.

He has since been jailed for 18 months and banned from keeping dogs for 12 years.

Sandra McKevitt said the dogs tore at her niece like she was a ‘piece of meat’ (Picture: BBC)

Ella needed 12 hours of reconstructive surgery at Alder Hey hospital (Picture: BBC)

Puppy farm owner Andrew McGowan had nearly 20 American Bully dogs (Picture: Mercury)

Recalling the attack, Ms McKevitt said she was having a picnic with her two young nieces and nephew when she heard the dogs barking and a ‘big bang’ before seeing the dog’s head as it burst through the fence into the garden.



The dog bit Ella and then others joined in and started attacking the toddler.

Ms McKevitt desperately tried to protect Ella but could not fight off the huge dogs, which can weigh up to 11 stone each.

She told the BBC: ‘Her face just didn’t look anything like her, swollen, stitches everywhere, your heart just broke.

‘Her cheek was hanging off, you could see her scalp, there were cuts near her eye.

‘She was bleeding everywhere, I honestly thought she wouldn’t survive.

Her cheek was left ‘hanging off’ in the terrifying attack (Picture: BBC)

Andrew McGowan has been jailed for 18 months (Picture: Merseyside Police/PA Wire)

There was nothing Ms McKevitt could do to protect her niece from the dogs (Picture: BBC)

‘Your heart just broke looking at her, no one should have to go through anything like that.’

Ella was rushed to the city’s Alder Hey Hospital where she underwent 12 hours of reconstructive surgery.

The court heard Ella would be left permanently scarred by the attack.

She suffered lacerations to her right cheek, chin, neck and above her right eye as well as puncture wounds to the side of her head which went down to the bone and injuries to her arms, legs and ribs.

Ella has recovered from the attack but has been left permanently scarred (Picture: BBC)

Andrew was disqualified from having dogs for a period of 12 years (Picture: Mercury)

McGowan was arrested and admitted being in charge of a number of out-of-control dogs at Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates’ Court in June 2017.

Four of his dogs were humanely destroyed and the rest were re-homed.

Des Lennon, defending, said McGowan, who was not at home when the attack happened, was ‘truly sorry and remorseful’ and had presented himself to police officers after he returned to his property.

When sentencing, Judge Clement Goldstone told McGowan: ‘It is quite clear to me that you had put money and the prospects of profiteering from breeding these animals ahead of safety.

‘I accept these particular dogs had never before been violent or displayed these tendencies, but keeping and breeding of these dogs, particularly in large numbers, carries with it a heavy responsibility, which you patently failed to discharge.

‘The bulk of the attack occurred while (the girl) was in her great aunt’s arms and the physical and psychological experience for both of them cannot be underestimated.’

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