EXCLUSIVE: 71% rise in dog bites on people reported in South Yorkshire
Our investigation has found there's been a huge increase between 2021-2025
A mum from Doncaster whose three-year-old daughter was attacked by a dog tells us she has both 'physical and emotional scars' three years on.
It comes as our investigation - with exclusive figures obtained from South Yorkshire Police shows that there's been a 71% increase in reports of dog bites on humans across Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley, and Rotherham in the last five years - between 2021 - 2025.
Elouise Smith who's now six was attacked by a Staffy-type dog in 2023 and needed surgery - her mum Stacey says it's had a long-lasting impact:
"Elouise has got to wash her face in the morning - she can't use any soap - only warm water.
"Afterwards, she'll cream her face - and she has to do the same on a nighttime - which just softens the scars, so they can stretch with her face as she grows up.
"I think people see the scars, but they also forget she's got scarring on the inside.
"The consultant did say when she's 18, Elouise could potentially go back and get a corrective, plastic job to make the scars go away.
"I still close my eyes on a night now and all I can see Elouise when she'd been bitten.
"My mind takes me back to 2023, and that is all I can say.
"People tell me to get over it, but as a parent - when you've seen your child in that state - it's really hard to get over.
"I never leave her at a friends' house anymore.
"She never goes by herself anymore, and if she goes anywhere, then I'm with her.
"Elouise doesn't go on playdates on her own anymore.
"It's more for my sanity and my peace of mind. I can't let her go."
Elouise Smith was attacked by the staffy-type dog at her friends' house on the 1st of December 2023.