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The father of a girl left scarred for life after being attacked by an out-of-control dog in a play park yesterday welcomed the recommendations by MSPs for tough new dog control laws.

Johanna McQuillan was nine years old when a Staffordshire bull terrier savaged her arms, legs and back while she played with her little sister in Ayr.

Dad John says Johanna, now 14, was lucky to be alive following the 2014 attack.

She suffered 17 wounds and needed surgery after the attack off Ayr’s Craigie Road. John, 79, said: “It was an unprovoked attack. It was terribly frightening.

“The gates to the park where Johanna was attacked were just left open. I think it would have made a difference if the park had been secure.”

John supported the plans for a Scottish Dog Control Database and said it would be “excellent” to see GPs and police collect consistent data on all incidents.

He said: “I would absolutely welcome these recommendations as it was a horrible thing for us to go through.”

Another parent whose daughter was savaged by a dog as a toddler has also backed the Holyrood committee which is calling for urgent reforms.

Kinzara Stirton was three when a bullmastiff attacked her in a Paisley tanning shop – leaving teeth marks on her neck and face.

Mum Kristina, 43, of Erskine, Renfrewshire, has been to Holyrood to fight for changes to the law and supports the plans tabled by MSPs.

She said: “I would also like to see tougher regulations on the sale of the dogs.”

Both parents spoke out after MSPs warned that Scotland’s failing dog control laws are leaving children at risk of attack.

A report by the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee at Holyrood skewers the Scottish Government’s handling of the 2010 Control of Dogs Act.

Committee convener Jenny Marra said: “Dog law in Scotland is not fit for purpose.

(Image: Photoscot.com)

“There are still far too many dog attacks on children and little enforcement or understanding of the current laws that might prevent these attacks.

“It has become clear that current dog control law doesn’t work.

“It needs reformed urgently so that out of control and dangerous dogs can be dealt with properly and we can try to move to a system that prevents our children being injured by dogs.”

MSPs called for councils to use by-law powers to create “secure play areas” for children in parks from which dogs are banned.

They want a new “dog control database” to help make laws effective. And they want GPs, hospitals and local authorities to record consistent incidences.

The conclusion comes shortly after an ex-SNP health secretary savaged his own government for being “complacent”.

(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Alex Neil said “nothing has been done” by the administration in the nine years since his party colleague Christine Grahame steered the Act through parliament.

In February, the mother of a child decapitated in a dog attack slammed the lack of action. Veronica Lynch said: “When Kelly died, the laws were ineffective – nothing happened to anybody.

“The owner stupidly allowed his daughter and my daughter to take two massive Rottweilers out. Their combined weight was something like 19 stone and Kelly weighed four-and-a-half stone.

“She didn’t stand a chance.”

The campaigner added: “Thirty years on from Kelly’s death we are still reading the same headlines.

“Nothing has changed and we have to get something done.”

Rules in the 2010 Act included control notices known as “dog Asbos” which aimed to force owners to muzzle animals or take them to training classes.

Recent horrifying cases include a bulldog being put down after biting off a man’s genitals in Haddington, East Lothian.