''What if the next victim of a savage dangerous dog attack is a child?'' Mr Nelson, 49, spoke of the attack that took place last month after he went for a jog in his neighbourhood of Ashcroft near Liverpool. ''When I have jogged before, dogs have come up and I pat them. I didn't even see these dogs. I felt like a bump on the left-hand side of me and I looked down and saw one dog, a pit bull. ''I thought she was playing around then I realised she had my left hand in her mouth pulling me back. ''Its sole purpose was attacking me.

''I hit it about three times on the head. I didn't even know there were two other dogs. Another one, and the biggest of the lot of them, latched on to my arm. My attention was turned to him although I still had the other one on my hand. The two of them latched on to my bicep. ''They were trying to pull me down and I knew if I went down I was in big trouble. They would have got to where they wanted to go. I couldn't tear my arms out of the dog's mouth because it already had chunks - I could see the meat coming off my bones. ''I remember the sun beaming down on me and these dogs chewing me up. I screamed out, like a scream I have never done before. I didn't know whether I was on my way to passing out but I looked over to my left and there was a guy I grew up with. I saw him and two other guys cross the road walking towards me. I could see they were rattled. I don't think I am going to make it through this. I'm going mate. I'm gonna die. ''You could see the fear on them.

''The older guy hit the dog on the left-hand side of me, that released, I had some freedom there. But as soon as he let go it attacked the guy that helped me. He ended up in hospital with me.'' Mr Nelson said he remembered looking at one of the men who was worried about ripping the dog away. ''I said, 'Mate, do what you have got to do, get them off me.' ''He kicked him and the dog released but took a big chunk of my arm and one of the others boys had a hammer or something smashed the other dog. ''I have lost half my bicep, I have got half the muscle missing there.''

He crawled to the front step of a nearby house and said the pain was like someone had flame throwers on his arm with the heat from the wounds. Police arrived and went looking for the dogs, as paramedics were called. ''I said to the younger one: 'I'm going.' I had lost about two litres of blood. I said 'I don't think I am going to get through this. I'm going, mate. I'm gonna die.''' He says he now has trouble sleeping and has visions when he falls asleep of the dogs attacking him. Echoing the words of Ms Cotsis, who is calling for a hotline for the public to report dangerous dogs, he added: ''If that was a child or an elderly person - it's only that I was fit and exercise regularly - you would have had a dead child ripped to pieces on the side of the road.''

Documents prepared by Liverpool's lead ranger reveal the dogs first came to the council's attention in February following complaints about smell. The owner was fined for failing to register the dogs and 'provided with general information regarding responsible pet ownership'. The Companion Animal Taskforce on dangerous dogs in February reported more than 9555 reportable attacks since July 2011.