Another vicious dog has attacked a 5-year-old girl.

A young girl in Melbourne – about to start her first day of school has been attacked by a pitbull leaving her with permanent scars.

Warning this post contains graphic images.

Five-year old Alexis Douglas starts school on Friday.

It should be one of the most exciting days of her life so far, filled with memories for not just Alexis but her family.

But Alexis’s first day of school will be tinged with sadness as a horrific dog attack has left her in agony and covered in bandages.

On Friday night the little girl was playing at her older sister’s friend’s house in the Melbourne suburb of Callum Downs when a pet pitbull cross turned on her viciously attacking her face.

The dog went at the little girl twice leaving her needing urgent plastic surgery.

He mother Monique Douglas told 3AW radio “The plastic surgeons took her to theatre and they’ve done a great job by the looks of it under the bandages, but her whole face is bandaged on the left side and she will need further treatment”

Her 16-year old sister who witnessed the attack was left traumatized.

What made matters worse was that when Alexis’s mother, Monique tried to speak to the local council regarding the attack no one would return her calls.

She says she called Frankston City Council, the Dangerous Dogs hotline and her local police several times after the incident, but failed to receive a response.

In desperation she called Neil Mitchell at 3AW.

It was only after this publicity that the council called her back and confirmed that the dog had been euthanized.

“I was crying out for police help, for council help, but no-one helped me until I called Neil Mitchell,” she told The Herald Sun.

“Now my phone hasn’t stopped ringing.”

My daughter could have been dead and did it take her to be dead for them to come?” Monique told Nine News.

Frankston City Council chief executive Dennis Hovenden said staff “were still trying to ascertain the procedure” but that “Council strongly advocates responsible dog ownership. There is little tolerance where dogs are not responsibly managed by their owners.”

The owner of the dog, a pitbull Rhodesian ridgeback cross told Nine News that he had children and the dog had never attacked before.

“They were playing together for an hour, hour and a half, and then I don’t know what happened, the dog, couldn’t have expected it, just attacked her.” Ed Powell said.

“I’m just shattered by the whole thing.”

In Victoria pitbulls are a restricted breed and owners must undergo strict requirements to own them. However many owners incorrectly and misleadingly register the animals with local councils under other breed descriptions including Australian terriers and Staffordshire terriers.

According to official figures in 2013 there were 1314 dog attacks reported to councils across Australia.

•  155 were by Staffordshire Bull terrier
• German shepherd: 89
• American staffordshire terrier: 88
• Australian cattle dog: 66
• Breed not specified: 63
• Rottweiler: 43
• Jack Russell: 34
• Siberian husky: 32

  Do you think our dog laws are sufficient? Should more be done to contain these animals?