A four-year-old girl was rushed to hospital after being attacked by an XL Bully on a river footpath.
The ordeal happened on the River Irwell path in Kersal between 2pm and 3pm on Saturday, July 19.
Greater Manchester Police are now urging any witnesses to come forward to determine the cause of the attack.
It comes as a new YouGov poll revealed the majority of Britons want stricter laws enforced on the XL Bully breed – with just five percent thinking they should be allowed as pets without a licence.
Others have called for the reintroduction of dog licences in the UK for all breeds, with more than half (54 per cent) believing this should be mandatory.
Meanwhile, 53 per cent believe the controversial XL Bully breed should be banned altogether.
The four-year-old girl did not sustain any severe injuries from the attack, GMP confirmed.
What sparked the attack or whether the dog’s owner was present during the incident is currently unknown.
A spokesperson for GMP Salford said: ‘We are appealing for information following an incident which saw an XL Bully bite a four-year-old child on footpath of the River Irwell in Kersal between 2-3pm on Saturday, July 19, 2025.
‘Thankfully no serious injury was sustained.’
The attack is the latest in a string of XL Bully attacks to plague victims across the country is recent years.
On April 26, a church volunteer was savagely attacked by a dog of the dangerous breed while he was asleep, with the XL Bully ripping off his ear.
Darren Shuttleworth-Long was caring for the dog, which wasn’t his own pet, when he was attacked at a home on Exeter Street, Swindon.
The volunteer, 52, had fallen asleep next to the animal but woke up in horror to find the dog with its jaw clenched under his armpit.
Not only did the XL Bully manage to rip the man’s ear off, but it also left his nose ‘hanging off’ in an attack that lasted approximately 10 minutes.
In 2023, the breed became the first to be added to the Dangerous Dogs Act since it became law in 1991, meaning owners in England and Wales now require a Certificate of Exemption in order to keep their pet.
Some people want the law to go even further, calling for a full reintroduction of dog licences.
This measure was required to own a dog in England, Scotland and Wales before 1988, and still exists in Northern Ireland, costing £12.50 a year.
The majority of the population (54 per cent) believe you should require a licence to own a dog of any breed as a pet.
Meanwhile, a further 31 per cent think you should require a licence to own dogs belonging to just certain breeds.
Just 8 per cent of the public think you should not require a licence to own a dog of any breed.
Younger Britons are substantially less in favour of a blanket licence, with just 22 per cent of 18-24 year olds and 46 per cent of 25-49 year olds believing you should require a licence to own any breed of dog as a pet.
