The four-year-old girl attacked by a Rottweiler in Matosinhos on Tuesday has lost part of her scalp.
Her mother, also injured in the attack, has been discharged from hospital but later may need surgery to her arm. The girl remains at the Hospital de São João in Oporto where she is "conscious, stable and not in danger of losing her life," according to her father.
"She's always been conscious, she remembers everything, she remembers everything that happened," said Sr Fernandes who explained that he was at a mortuary to attend the wake of a friend and left with his daughter. He saw the dog walking without leash or muzzle.
The dog attacked the girl and the father then started to take photographs. The dog's owner, Márcio Lourenço, (pictured below) well known to local police for agression and violence, is alleged to have attacked Sr Fernandes. Then, the dog again attacked the child.
Due to the amount of blood, the police initially said the girl was "practically disfigured" and in a "very serious state" with scalp, shoulder and hand injuries, but the fire department later said she was not in a 'very serious' condition, but obviously was badly injured. The girl was operated on Wednesday and her medical team says she is out of danger.
The child first was taken to at the Pedro Hispano hospital in Matosinhos, along with her mother who had been attacked by the same dog: both were referred to the Hospital de São João, in Oporto.
The owner of the dog, Márcio Lourenço, aged 24, was in court in Matosinhos today to answer to charges of negligence regarding the dog, aggression towards the father and leaving the scene of the attack.
Lourenço was allowed home after his two hour court appearance having confirmed his identity and address. The dog has a chip and was legal, but at the time of the attack had no muzzle and was off the lead.
The Rottweiler is in quarantine in the Matosinhos kennel for 15 days for observation. The municipal veterinarian will submit a report and the dog's future will be decided by the court which can oder that the dog be destroyed.
There are 23,000 Rottweilers registered in Portugal, with an average of 100 new records per year, well down on the 3,000 new recoreds a year before new laws and legal definitions covering ‘dangerous dogs’.
The president of the Rottweiler Clube de Portugal said that the legislation mainly has affected registered breeders, with those breeding illegally and then selling via the internet and to friends, carrying on without regard for the law.
Many who own dangerous dogs fail to educate, socialise and give obedience training to their pets, which legally they have to, with 90% of owners unable to comply due to the lack of registered facilities - trainers are there and willing but have not been granted recognition due to government lethargy.(* see link below)
The dog's owner, Márcio Lourenço (obviously, he's the one with the hoddie)
Rottweiler, classified as a 'dangerous breed' in the 2003 legislation
The area where the Matoshinos attack happened
Seec also: 'Portugal's dangerous dogs law is unworkable and unenforcable'
