A THREE year-old-boy had to have 30 stitches to his face after being mauled by a dog near a busy Poole play area.

Little Logan Trim was left “covered in blood” from cuts and gashes sustained in the sudden attack at Whitecliff Park, Baiter.

Logan’s mum Lara Slingsby, from Colehill, told the Daily Echo how a family day out with her parents turned into a nightmare as the tot was rushed to Poole Hospital in an ambulance.

The 22-year-old mum of two was stroking a couple’s cute puppy when their other dog launched itself at Logan, pushing him to the ground.

Miss Slingsby, of Glynville Close, said: “We’d had a picnic on the other side of the park and Logan had been playing on the swings.

“We were just going to go and fly my dad’s kite when we spotted this little puppy and went over to chat to the owner.

“Logan was just behind me. He didn’t do anything to alarm the other dog and wasn’t screaming or anything.

“None of us actually saw the dog go for him. I heard Logan cry out and turned around. He was on the floor.

“The dog got off him and he was just covered in blood, with gashes on his cheeks and lips.”

Paramedics were called and the incident was reported to police.

Miss Slingsby, who also had four-month-old son Eithan with her, said: “I think Logan went into shock because after some screams when it first happened, as we got him over to a bench to sit down he was just shaking and kind of quiet.

“It was hard because I just wanted to break down, but you don’t want to worry them. They know something is wrong if mum’s crying. He looks much better now the wounds have cleared up a bit and the stitches have been taken out. With him being so young his skin should heal a lot better, but he’s definitely going to have some scarring.”

The Slingsbys say they’re worried about dogs being allowed off the lead so close to a children’s play area. “It’s not like it’s just Logan,” Miss Slingsby said. “If a dog does something like that to a child it’s always likely to do it again.

“You cannot trust the owner to keep it on a leash or a muzzle. When I saw the puppy I did not even consider the other dog would do this, because if it’s off the lead at Whitecliff you think it must be fine with children.”

Miss Slingsby wants the dog in question, a black labrador about one year old, to be destroyed and feels police have not done enough since the May 31 attack.

Because the animal is not classified as a dangerous dog, the owners can decide whether or not to put it down.

Police are investigating the incident.