A TEENAGE girl was left needing surgery on her hand after being viciously attacked by a dog in a park.

Tiyah Shirley, 14, was bitten while trying to protect her dog Barney after seeing an Alsatian charge towards them in Rushley Park, Basildon, on Saturday.

The Alsatian, which had latched onto her left hand, had to be grappled and pinned down to the floor by owners for it to stop attacking, leaving Tiyah in desperate need of medical attention.

Horrified, the family then rushed her to hospital, where she was told she would need surgery to avoid infection.

Her stepdad Lukas Volskis, said: “It was around 4pm on Saturday when out of nowhere a dark Alsatian charged straight towards our dog. Tiyah tried to protect him and get him out the way by picking him up. 

“But it then went for her, I guess trying to get to Barney, and bit her left hand leaving marks on both sides. 

“My wife tried to push it off and the owners pinned the dog down to the floor for it to stop attacking. 

“There was quite a lot of blood and it was quite a deep wound, but we didn’t realise just how bad it was at first and thought that maybe she was just crying because of the shock.”

Tiyah was immediately rushed to hospital for an assessment. 

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Lukas added: “They told us it’s a good job we did and decided she would need an operation.

“Broomfield Hospital ended up doing the surgery on Sunday to try and reduce the infection, so basically cut off the skin around the bites to get it cleaned out.

“Luckily nothing was broken, but it was really swollen and the doctors have had to check further for nerve damage.”

Lukas and the family are now urging the Alsatian’s dog owners to come forward.

The 30-year-old from Basildon, continued: “It all happened so quickly and is a blur. 

“The whole thing did really shake her up and we wouldn’t want anything like that to happen to anyone else, so we’re just trying to get the word out as much as we can.

“Please keep dogs on the lead unless absolutely certain this won’t happen.”

The incident was reported to Essex Police and the force was contacted for comment, but did not respond by the time the Echo went to print.