Terrified schoolgirl, 9, has top lip ripped off by dog after it heard barking on her Nintendo DS



Ordeal: Megan Walker had her top lip bitter off by a Bull Mastiff

A terrified schoolgirl had her top lip torn off by a dog as she played with a computer game.

Megan Walker's family say a friend’s bull mastiff cross went berserk when it heard barking on a Nintendo DS game.

It dragged Megan, nine, off a sofa as she played the virtual pet puppy game Nintendogs.

The dog sank its teeth into her face, bit her several times and ripped off her top lip.

Quick-thinking police officers put the piece of lip on ice and surgeons were able to sew it back on.

'I think this game should carry some kind of warning,' said the girl’s grandma Jean Taylor.

'People should be told not to play it when there are dogs in the room. I blame the game for what happened to Megan. If they hadn’t been playing it I don’t think the dog would have gone for her.'

Megan was playing at a friend’s house in Bolton when the accident happened. The dog, named Saracen, has since been put down.

Megan was taken by ambulance to Manchester Children’s Hospital, where doctors managed to re-attach the lip.

Megan was in the care of her grandmother, Jean Taylor, while her mother Leanne Walker, aged 34, was on holiday in Jamaica for her birthday.

Mrs Taylor, aged 58, had allowed her granddaughter to stay at Ms Melville’s house, as she is friends with her daughters.

Megan, a pupil at St James’ Primary School, had woken up and was turning on the game station at around 10am on Sunday, September 19, while Saracen was asleep on a mattress in the living of the house.

St James’ Primary School pupil Megan said: 'When I woke up I turned on the Nintendo. It barked and Saracen dragged me off the couch by my foot. I was scared.'

When she realised that Megan was being attacked, Ms Melville started kicking him and her second pet dog, named Zena, also attacked Saracen in a bid to save the child.

Attack: The dog, called Saracen, was apparently startled when he heard backing on Megan's Nintendogs game

Mrs Taylor said one of Ms Melville’s daughters ran to get her as she only lives a minute up the road and then she and Megan’s 14-year-old sister Sophie ran to help.

'When I saw her I went hysterical. She just had a dirty rag over her face. I just said ‘where’s her lip?’ It was horrible, the worse thing I have ever seen in my life,' said Mrs Taylor.

'The police went in the house and found the lip and brought it up to the hospital on ice.'

Megan was in surgery for two hours and spent five days in hospital. It is hoped that her lip will heal, though doctors will have a better idea when they take her bandage off on Wednesday.

Mrs Taylor said: 'Hopefully the surgery has worked or she could have to have more plastic surgery down the line. She’s been so brave. She didn’t cry once.'

She said that her daughter, who is still on holiday, knew about the incident but probably didn’t realise just how bad it had been.

Inspector Phil Spurgeon said: 'This was a really nasty incident but one which falls outside of the law. The dog in question was not a banned breed and the incident happened in a private address, not in public.

'The owner signed the dog over for destruction and it has now been put down by a vet.'

Ms Melville was unavailable for comment, but it is understood that she told police that Megan may have kicked Saracen and that is why he attacked her.

No one from Nintendo was available for comment.