Witnesses called police to a birthday party in England after a child suffered injuries from a vicious dog attack. The incident occurred at a home in Chopwell Close in Hardwish, Stockton, on April 19, 2025. When police arrived, they found the child with serious arm and head injuries. Thankfully, the child will survive, but what will happen to the animal remains unknown.
According to a statement the Cleveland Police posted to Facebook: “Officers attended the scene and secured the dog safely, without any harm to the animal, and removed it from the premises. The dog has been taken to specialist dog kennels. The child has been taken to hospital for treatment for arm and head injuries (not life threatening). Police remain at the scene of the incident whilst enquiries continue. Anyone with information is asked to contact Cleveland Police on 101 quoting 069181.”
The Northern Echo reported that the North East Ambulance Service arrived on the scene with police after the dog attack. “We were called to a person injured in the Hardwick area of Stockton at 12.33pm this afternoon. No resources were required as the patient made their own way to hospital.”
Later, an unidentified witness told Metro UK they saw the child leaving the home, “There were loads of emergency services as I was walking past, and the bairn was taken to hospital, it looked really bad.”
No word from police about what kind of dog was involved in the attack or the animal’s fate, but a witness told Metro UK they saw a pit bull mix.
Some condemned the dog’s owner on the Cleveland Police Facebook page.
One person wrote, “Hopefully the dogs dead now. Animals need removing and destroying and owners massively fined.”
Another commenter thinks the owner will have an excuse and wrote, “Let’s wait for the owner of the animal saying ‘oh it’s so soft doesn’t bite anyone ever’ then the parents saying ‘leaving my child with a dog is fine.'”
But someone else asked others not to judge so quickly, writing: “No one knows what happened, but some parents do allow their kids to treat dogs like toys, trampolines and climbing frames , they ignore all the warnings a growl or a snap, they then punish the dog rather that stopping the child and learning the child to treat the dog with respect, the dog then becomes overly nervous when ever the child is around. And a frightened nervous dog will bite out of fear.”
