The death of a nine-year old boy killed by a dog at a caravan park in Cornwall has renewed concern over legislation that campaigners say fails to protect the public from vicious attacks.

On Sunday, police named the dead boy as Frankie Macritchie from Plymouth. He was found in a caravan at Tencreek holiday park in Looe after he was attacked on Saturday by a “bulldog-type breed”, police said.

He was alone with the animal in the caravan while his family were in an adjacent unit, officers said.

The dog, which is not believed to be a banned breed under the UK’s Dangerous Dogs Act, has since been transferred to kennels in Cornwall.

A 28-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and having a dog dangerously out of control but has since been released from custody while police continue investigations.

Last Thursday, a six-week-old baby suffered life-threatening injuries after a dog attack.

The boy from Hawick in the Scottish Borders was taken to Borders general hospital and was later transferred by air ambulance to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow.

He remains in critical condition, and his aunt has taken the dog to the vet to be put down.

MPs have raised serious concerns over the Dangerous Dogs Act, which they say fails to protect children and adults. The legislation was introduced in 1991 and bans four breeds of dogs – the pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino and fila Brasileiro.

In October last year, MPs warned ministers that victims were suffering “catastrophic injuries” with a sharp rise in reported attacks across the UK.

The environment, food and rural affairs select committee called for a full-scale review into dog laws amid concerns the legislation failed to protect the public, and said breed-specific legislation was misguided.

Tory MP Neil Parish, the chair of the committee, said: “Existing laws and the breed ban have not stemmed the rising tide of injuries and deaths from dog attacks. Children and adults are suffering horrific injuries, many of them avoidable. This is unacceptable.

“The public must be properly protected, and we are therefore calling for a full-scale review of existing dog control strategies.”

Data from the NHS has revealed an 81% increase in the number of people taken to hospital for dog bites between 2005 and 2017, rising from 4,110 to 7,461.

After the Cornwall attack the shadow environment secretary, Sue Hayman, said the act unfairly placed blame on dog breeds rather than holding pet owners responsible.

“These awful incident have to be a wake-up call to the government,” she said. “The Dangerous Dogs Act, with its narrow focus on breed, is not stopping attacks – while healthy, well-behaved dogs are often put down.”

The Kennel Club said: “The majority of dog bite incidents are a result of irresponsible actions of owners who have either not taken the time and trouble to train their dog correctly or have trained them to behave aggressively.”

A freedom of information request by the Sunday Times found that less than a third of dogs involved in attacks over the past 15 months belonged to one of the four banned breeds.