Attacks by dangerous dogs rise sharply to 4,000

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Doctors saw nearly 4,000 patients last year with bites or more serious wounds - nearly double the number of casualties of four years ago.

There has also been a worrying rise in the number of children savaged by outof-control animals. In London 127 children needed hospital treatment last year compared with only 58 in 2003.

The Liberal Democrats who obtained the figures through a parliamentary answer are now calling for laws on dangerous dogs to be overhauled.

Norman Lamb, Lib-Dem health spokesman, said: "There's a worrying trend in some areas of using dangerous dogs as fashion accessories or, worse, as weapons. Dogs often only become violent as a result of mistreatment by owners or because of a failure to train them properly." Fighting breeds including pit-bulls are banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

There has been a spate of dog attacks including the death last year of five-yearold Ellie Lawrenson who was mauled at her grandmother's home on New Year's Day by a pit-bull type dog, receiving severe head and neck injuries.