A young girl is too scared to take her dog for a walk after being injured when a family afternoon at the beach ended in an attack by three staffordshire bull terriers.

Despite Carris Clayton’s mother, Karen , shouting to the dogs’ owners that her daughter had been bitten, they ran off.

Nine-year-old Carris , who has been left with a scar on her upper arm, was with her family at Sheerness beach when a dog ran towards them and started attacking their one-year-old Patterdale Terrier, Nelson.

According to Mrs Clayton, 32, of Prince Charles Avenue, Minster, while the dog was biting Nelson two men came round the corner with another two dogs which also began to attack.

She said: “They bit his face and his shoulder, he was crying and me and my husband tried to get the dog off him. All the men did was have a go at my husband for kicking their dogs.”

Mrs Clayton said she told Carris to take her three-year-old sister Poppy away when she realised Carris was bleeding.

She claims she shouted to the men that her daughter had been bitten but said they pulled their dogs away and made off towards Tesco.

Mrs Clayton said: “Both the girls were crying and we could see the blood. We told the men that their dogs had bitten my daughter but they just ran away. My husband called after them but they didn’t stop, there was blood everywhere.”

She rang NHS Direct and was told to clean the wound. No jabs were needed as Carris, who attends Minster Primary School, has been vaccinated against

tetanus.

Mrs Clayton said: “Carris is too scared to take Nelson out for a walk after this, she used to take him every day but now she is too scared. These people obviously don’t have children, if my dog had bitten a child I would take him straight to the vets.”

Investigating officer PC Adrian Goodsall said: “Police are treating this incident seriously. All dog owners have a duty to keep their animals under control in a public place.”

Both men are white, aged between 18 and 20, and about 6ft. One was wearing a white baseball cap and white trainers. Two of the dogs were brown, one was white.

Anyone with information about the incident, which happened at about 4.20pm on Wednesday, June 25, should call PC Goodsall from the Island Neighbourhood Team on 01795 584164 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.