A SANKEY teenager claims she was bitten by a loose Alsatian in an unprovoked attack.

Joanne Hepherd, aged 16, of Stratton Road, says she was walking along Winchester Avenue, Great Sankey, with her boyfriend Andrew Strefford when the incident happened. The Sankey College student suffered a bruised face and puncture wounds to her hip. The incident was reported to the police who told the girl the animal would be placed on the dangerous dog register.

She said: "The dog ran out of its house and up the driveway of a neighbouring house.

"It wasn't on a lead and it came running back towards me. It jumped up at me and bruised my face and I fell backwards on to Andrew. He stood in front of me to protect me but the dog came round him and bit me on my hip. I didn't feel it at first, but then I realised I'd been bitten."

Joanne is five feet five inches tall and says that if the dog was to jump at a small child, it could easily bite its face.

"The man made no attempt to bring his dog under control," she said.

"He just shouted at me to stand still and stop shouting. He didn't come to help and didn't believe that I had been bitten even though my trousers were ripped."

Joanne was taken to Warrington Hospital where she was treated with antibiotics and for shock.

"I was having panic attacks," she said, "and I couldn't breathe.

"I couldn't walk properly for a few days because movement re-opened the puncture wounds. The attack has made me very jumpy and scared of dogs."

A police spokesman said: "If a dog does bite someone it is automatically put on the dangerous dog register.

"If it is a very severe and vicious attack, an application can be made to have the dog put down.

The register is protected by the data protection act, but if someone was worried about a particular dog they could write to their local police station. If they had a good reason for wanting to know whether the dog was registered, this information may then be released."

The Alsatian's owner was not available for comment.

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