Surgeons have warned that the under-fives are most at risk of death and serious injury from dog bites.
Three-year-olds are the most commonly bitten and 50% of all attacked children seen by doctors at one hospital were aged five or younger.
Surgeons at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool say two-thirds are attacked on the face or neck as they are usually level in height with a dog’s mouth.
Christian Duncan, consultant plastic surgeon at Alder Hey, said: “We are a dog-loving nation, but there is something we need to recognise about what they are like and balance that against the fact that there is no such thing as a safe dog.”
One of the tragic cases the hospital has dealt with this year was that of 17-month-old Bella-Rae Birch from St Helens, Merseyside.
She died of head trauma in March after being attacked by the American bully XL her family had bought as a pet just a week before.
Richard Wain, consultant plastic surgeon at Royal Preston Hospital, told the Mirror: “We are seeing more and more dog bites.
"The severity is not necessarily getting worse, but the vast majority are in children, usually on their face, limbs or hands.
“We’ve had cases over the past couple of years where patients have had parts of their face removed, eyes chewed out, arms broken, fingers taken off.
"We have had some really severe injuries.”
The Mirror is calling for change through our Time for Action on Dangerous Dogs campaign as a probe found there has been a 26% rise in attacks in two years.
Mr Duncan said 87% of Alder Hey’s canine bite patients in 2020 knew the dog that attacked them and nearly 60% were mauled by the family pet.
Prof Vivien Lees, a member of the council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, told the Mirror: “There’s a lot of trauma for the individual involved and indeed the owner of the dog.
"The more we can do as a society to minimise dog bites, the better that has to be."
