3-year-old attacked by French Mastiff as owners watched and 'laughed,' mom claims

A 3-year-old boy in West Midlands, England, was left traumatised after he was attacked at a park by a dog while the owners laughed and insisted their pet was only "playing," the child's mother claimed.

The boy and his mother, both of whom were unnamed, had been playing tennis at a park located in the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire at around 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 when a French Mastiff ran up to the child and attacked him, the Birmingham Mail reported, citing the mother's statement.

"I ran to save my son and was pushing the dog off. The owners were laughing and reassured me that the dog was only playing," the mother said.

"As soon as the dog was off my son, I could see how scared and [traumatised] my son was. He had a wound to his inner arm and his top was ripped from the shoulder part where he had another wound," she added.

The owners insisted that their dog was "playing" and claimed it was "not a threat at all," according to the woman. They allegedly only got involved when the mother started shouting and screaming.

The boy was later taken to accident and emergency services with cuts, a Staffordshire Police spokesman said. He has since been "crying all day and night," according to his mother.

"He is very [traumatised] by this. No child should ever go through what happened to my son. He is very lucky as he was not severely injured and the wounds were not that deep," she explained.

Police have reportedly launched an investigation into the attack.

"We are currently investigating an incident where a three-year-old boy was bitten by a dog at Burslem Park," the Staffordshire Police spokesman claimed.

The owners of the dog have been described as white, according to police.

"The man was wearing a red jacket, a baseball cap and shorts and the woman was wearing a gray Adidas hoodie," the spokesman noted.

A similar incident occurred in New Jersey in March when a 3-year-old boy and his mother were attacked by a dog, which left the child dead and the mother in critical condition. The owners of the pet were allegedly warned of its behaviour prior to the incident, but they "laughed it off."