A nine-year-old girl was attacked by a rogue dog while she was playing at an Auckland beach.
Christiana Holt was sitting less than 10 metres away from her dad Neal at Eastern Beach on Tuesday evening when the staffy-cross launched at her and bit her ear.
Holt told NZME he and his wife wrestled the dog away from Christiana and carried her back to their beach blanket.
"I chased off after the dog and some 30 feet down the beach, there was a little girl, younger than my one ... and it actually went towards her," he told NZME.
He chased the dog down the beach where he eventually found its owner, who was clueless as to what had happened.
The owner apologised, claiming the dog had run off. He said he would put the dog in his car and return to see Holt and Christiana.
Holt was suspicious of the man, and began following him as soon as he started running towards a waiting car.
"The passenger side of the door was open, he jumped in and cleared off," Holt told NZME.
There wasn't any time for him to record the car's number plate.
Police were alerted immediately after the attack.
Auckland Council is trying to identify the dog and its owner and is asking the public for any information that may help them.
