Girl, 8 left with ‘shark chunk’ scars after canine ‘ragged her round subject for six minutes’
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES A young girl was brutally attacked by a ‘pocket bully’ at a North Wales playing park, leaving her with serious leg injuries and requiring two operations
The case was heard at Caernarfon Magistrates Court (Image: Daily Post Wales)
A girl was savagely left with “shark bite scars” after being mauled by a dog while playing hide and seek. The horrifying incident took place at Beibio playing park, Holyhead, on 24 August 2025.
The dog’s owner Bethan Farr, 51, of Peibio Close, Holyhead, appeared at Caernarfon Magistrates Court and was handed a suspended sentence of 12 months after admitting to being in charge of a dangerously out-of-control dog that caused injury. She was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation and must fulfil rehabilitation activity requirements.
The dog, described as a “pocket bully”, was ordered to be put down. The victim’s mother, whose eight year old daughter is under a reporting restriction not to be named, labelled the sentence as “frustrating” and feels let down by the justice system.
She revealed that her daughter underwent two operations following the traumatic event and spent several days in hospital. Recalling the day of the attack, she said her daughter was playing hide and seek with friends at the park when the dog approached them.
Farr was nearby holding a lead, which the dog was off, reports North Wales Live. The youngster wasn’t scared of dogs and began stroking the animal. But when the “seeker” turned up to find them during their game, they began running away, only for the dog to chase after her and clamp onto a hoodie she had tied around her waist or shoulders.
She let go of the hoodie hoping the dog would pursue that instead, but “then it grabbed her ankle,” her mum explained: “The dog was ragging her around the field for maybe six minutes.”
The terrifying ordeal was captured on CCTV, she revealed.
A friend managed to free the youngster from the dog’s grip and she was rushed to a nearby home, she said. The mum and her partner were contacted, witnessed the horrific extent of the leg injuries and rushed her to Ysbyty Penrhos Stanley, Holyhead, before being taken to the A&E department at Ysbyty Gwynedd Bangor for treatment, where officers also arrived.
“We were all petrified, we looked at the injuries on her leg and thought – this is dreadful. I was beside myself.”
Over the following days the girl remained in hospital and endured two procedures, whilst medics tried to cleanse the severe wound and seal it correctly for healing. During this time their daughter was put on powerful painkillers.
“The doctors explained the dog bite was so deep and there was mud in the wound, there was a lot they had to clean out, but fortunately they managed to clean it all out and sow it up,” the mum said.
The youngster has made a strong recovery since the incident, her mother revealed, though she remains more cautious around dogs and received canine therapy at Ysbyty Gwynedd to help her feel comfortable with them once more.
“She is very strong and is very strong willed,” the mum explained.
She now carries a scar on her leg from the dog attack, which the family has dubbed her “shark bite” battle wound.
“We have told her ‘you should be proud of what you have come through and dealt with’,” the mum said.
Reflecting on the sentence, she expressed: “It is totally frustrating and I feel let down by the courts and I think they are letting her down.”
She revealed they had attempted to present the sentence differently to their daughter, making it appear more severe than it was.
“I didn’t want her to think that she got nothing.”
