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A little girl is mauled by a dog in a church car park in horrifying video.

From out of nowhere the dog bolts from the road into the car park upon seeing the girl who is skipping happily, blissfully unaware of what is about to happen.

She is walking with her dad and holding a woman's hand but the dog moves at lightning speed in and gets between him and his daughter, beginning to try and tear at the poor little girl's arm.

The girl is aged just five and the panicking adults begin a desperate struggle to wrestle the mad dog off her.

She had just been to church and all was well when the dog started the attack and knocked her to the ground.

Her dad held papers in his hand as the family serenely walked to their car before the creature struck at full speed.

It would be the last thing the dog ever did - its owner gave it up to be put down.

A humane society in Colorado shared the terrifying video, and revealed the dog's owner was charged with Unlawful Ownership of a Dangerous Animal.

The humane society said: "Although our goal is to save as many lives as we can, some pets are simply not safe to be in the community.

"To prevent bites and attacks, pet owners need the basic tenets of responsible pet ownership — spaying and neutering to prevent roaming, keeping your pet restrained at all times, and seeking professional training before a behavior escalates."

The video, shared as a warning to others, shows the dog's owner was nowhere to be seen and the mutt was off leash.

In the chaos of the vicious attack the girl is dragged around the hard concrete floor of the car park by her arm with the adults trying to prize the mutt's jaws from her.

Brave bystanders jump in to help - a woman leaps out a truck and another man runs to help. They lift the girl up off the ground and a fifth man tries to help - but to no avail.

Then, one of the men pulls something from his pocket and pokes the dog and the deranged pooch finally unclenches its jaw and flees, leaving the stunned group and the girl being held in the woman's arms.

Amazingly, the brave little girl only suffered minor injuries.

The Humane Society's Bite Blotter, which stores information on animal attacks, said the youngster was only left with "moderate puncture wounds" in the horror which took place on October 20 last year.