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A toddler patted a group of “lovely” American XL Bully dogs on the head the day before a pack used her as a "tug of war" toy during a horror attack.
Sandra McKevitt, her two-year-old niece Ella, and Ella’s two cousins were having a picnic in her garden on May 7, 2016. The youngster was so badly savaged, she's only recently been discharged from hospital treatment.
Sandra claimed it was “one of those really hot days”. The family could hear her neighbour's dogs in the garden next door but didn’t think anything of it. She even described them as “lovely dogs”. But shortly after, the now 63-year-old recalled hearing a big bang before one of the XL bully breed dogs broke free charging into the garden and towards Ella.
READ MORE: ' My XL Bullies love being close to my children – but people say I'm bad parent'
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Speaking to the ECHO, Sandra said: "We were having a little picnic in the garden, and I remember it was one of those hot days. We had baked some cakes and they [the children] were playing and running around.
"We could hear the dogs next door but we didn't really think anything of it, Ella was patting them on the head the day before and they were lovely dogs. Next thing I heard this bang and saw one of the dogs heads through the side of the fence, we were laughing at first but then I saw its eyes – I will never forget them eyes."
Sandra ordered the two other children, who were standing by the back door of the house, to go inside. At the same time, the beast charged at Ella.
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She said: "Ella started screaming, they were circling us one at a time going for her and me. It was literally one at a time, it was like their instincts took over. At one point it was a tug of war with a baby.
"They had hold of her by her cheek and I was pulling her legs to get them off her. I fell down at one point and I knew I had to get up to help Ella and to make sure they couldn't get my neck."
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Dog owner, Andrew McGowan appeared in Sandra's garden and started distracting the five XL bullies who had come through the fence. The aunt used the distraction to scoop Ella up and take her inside.
Ella was airlifted to Aintree Hospital where the toddler underwent a nine-hour surgery in a bid to heal her extensive injuries. Sandra claimed the little girl's face was unrecognisable.
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Sandra said: "Her face just didn’t look anything like her, swollen, stitches everywhere, your heart just broke. Her cheek was hanging off, you could see her scalp, there were cuts near her eye.
"She was just bleeding everywhere. She had a white top on and it was red."
There were a total of 18 XL bullies found in the house, four of which were destroyed by police. Sandra added that when Ella was told the dogs were killed, she "burst into tears" as she thought "the dogs were killed because of her".
In 2017, Andrew McGowan was jailed for 18 months and disqualified from keeping dogs for 12 years after pleading guilty to being in charge of four dogs which were dangerously out of control.
Ella is now nine years old and was discharged from Alder Hey Children's Hospital last year after completing her treatment. She's overcome her fear of animals and now owns a French Bulldog called Ralphie.
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