GRAPHIC: Girl, 5, traumatized after dog attack, father says

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) - A concerned father is speaking out about a dog attack in a Florida park that left his 5-year-old daughter scarred and traumatized.

Florian Becker says his 5-year-old daughter is “absolutely traumatized” after the Tuesday attack at Hortt Park in Fort Lauderdale. The girl is struggling to heal after a dog bite that required more than 50 stitches and staples to her face, shoulders, back and scalp.

“A lady with a dog walked up… and she invited the kids to come and pet the dog. My daughter went up and pet him, and all of a sudden, the dog turned and bit her in her face,” Becker said.

The harrowing sounds of the attack, including screams and the dog’s barks, were captured by a nearby surveillance camera.

“My wife was shocked and screamed, tried to pull the dog back by its collar, and the collar broke. The dog attacked again, this time more viciously, and she was grabbing the dog and fighting it back, holding on to it, screaming at the woman to take control of her dog,” Becker said.

Finally, the mother was able to free her daughter and rush her to the emergency room. Her father says the 5-year-old was lucky because some of the bite wounds are very close to her eye, but it does not appear to be affected.

Some of the swelling in his daughter’s face is going down, her father says, though she faces a long road to recovery.

“She said… ‘Why are you looking at me?’ My wife said, ‘Because you’re beautiful.’ And she said, ‘No, I look like a monster.’ So, these scars will be there for a long time,” Becker said.

Becker says when police arrived at the park, the woman and her dog were gone. Officials say the owner and dog have since been identified, according to local media reports.

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