Mauled Demi hoping to get her smile back

The mother of a seven-year-old girl who was horrifically mauled by a dog has backed new dangerous dog plans after revealing her hopes that surgery will finally allow her daughter to smile again.

Demi Franklyn was just three when she was savaged by a neighbour’s Japanese Akita in March 2009.

She suffered a broken jaw, bloody wounds to her head and neck and damaged facial muscles and nerves – meaning she has been unable to smile for the past three years.

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At the time it was revealed the dog had previously attacked a seven-year-old boy but had not been put down.

Last weekend, Demi returned home to Bradford after major surgery at the Royal Free Hospital in London to replace a nerve in her face with tissue from her leg.

Mary Davies, 42, says her daughter is beginning to get feeling back in her face and hopes this operation, the third since the attack, will restore her pretty smile.

“These new plans are a really good idea but it should have always been like that. Every dog should be microchipped and all owners of dogs who attack should be prosecuted, whether it happens on their land or not.

“Those type of dogs should not be on the street.

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People have no business with that type of aggressive or dangerous dog.

“My opinion is that any dog that can attack an innocent child should be put down. But failing that it’s plain that better microchipping and more prosecutions will help.

“It’s also clear some people obviously can’t train them properly so they should have to go on courses or they shouldn’t be allowed to have them.”

Mrs Davies added: “Demi has her moments, but she gets upset sometimes. It’s early days but I’m hoping this operation is going to bring her beautiful smile back.” She is also hoping to claim compensation for Demi for the expense of having to travel to London for her treatment.

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When the incident happened, Mrs Davies said she was “disgusted” the dog, named Tyson, had not been put down before it mauled Demi, after it emerged it was the same animal which attacked seven-year-old schoolboy Charlie Faulding the previous year. The dog was finally destroyed following this revelation.

After Demi’s attack, a spokesman for the dog’s owner, Asam Bashir, apologised but said the attack was not his fault as the dog had been tied up on his land.