Terror as dog drags Ryan from tree

A father from the Black Country has told how his son was mauled by a dog as he played with friends.

Ryan Bratt, aged 10, tried to climb a tree after the Japanese Akita dog smashed through the fence of its Tipton home and chased him.

The youngster suffered serious cuts to his head, and his firefighter father Steve today said that he wanted to warn others about the large breed. The dog has since been destroyed. Japanese Akita dogs, which look a little like huskies, can weigh up to 119lb and grow to 2ft tall.

Mr Bratt said Ryan had been playing on public land with his friends in Keyte Close last Wednesday.

He is now calling for the Akita breed to be put on the Dangerous Dogs Act list.

The Wednesbury firefighter said: "He had his bike with him and the kids were just climbing trees and riding around.

"This grey and black dog was in a garden behind a fence and must have heard them. It jumped at the fence and got through.

"The children scattered and Ryan tried to climb a tree but the dog grabbed his foot and pulled him down. It bit his head and left him with a cut nine inches long, the teeth had gone down to the skull."

Mr Bratt, of Cory Croft, said the dog's owner came running out and pulled the dog back. Two passers-by also stopped to help.

He said: "Ryan was very brave and just came straight home but he was hysterical and terrified."

The 38-year-old said the female owner had informed police before he did about the incident and had the dog destroyed.

Ryan spent two days in Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley. He is still off from Tipton Green Primary School being looked after by his mother Donna, 35.

Akita dogs are usually thought of as being good with children but are known to become destructive if they get bored. Experts also recommend they are not kept with other pets because they can become aggressive.