The mother of a nine-year-boy who was mauled by a bulldog has today told of her relief that he is making a recovery from the attack.

Nine-year-old Iain De-Bozie suffered serious injuries to his right arm after being attacked by two dogs – a bulldog and a Staffordshire bull terrier – at Goldsmith Street, off Dereham Road, Norwich.

Iain was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital following the attack on Sunday and underwent a two-hour operation to repair the damage to his arm caused as a result of the attack.

His mother Nikki, 42, of Goldsmith Street, said she did not know how the attack happened and only realised something was wrong when her 'hysterical' son was brought to her.

She said: 'Iain just went up to talk to a friend. He had just gone out to play and I was inside. The guy who brought Iain down was very apologetic.

'Iain was hysterical, he was absolutely hysterical and I think he was in shock. His clothes were soaked in blood and his jeans were splattered in blood.

'I covered him with a tea towel so he couldn't see the wound, it was that bad. You just go into autopilot and your first thought is cover it up so the child can't see it.'

Ms De-Bozie said she then put her son, who broke the same arm this time last year after falling off a push bike, straight in the car and took him to hospital.

Iain, a pupil at Wensum Junior School, was released from hospital and is now recovering at home with his mother and their staffie cross labrador Tai, four, which has been in the family for the past three years.

Ms De-Bozie said: 'He's glad to be home, but he's very wary of other dogs. I'm just relieved to have him home and that it's not more serious. It's just an awful thing to happen, but it could've been so much worse.

'He had an X-Ray to see if there was damage to the bone. He had two hours of surgery to close the wound.

'He's not thinking about what's happened too much.'

Ms De-Bozie said she does not know how the attack happened, but does not blame the owner or the dog responsible for the attack – although she believes it must now be put down.

She said: 'I've got no anger towards the owner or the dog. I don't believe for one second that anyone would want this to happen.'

The attack has affected Iain, but Ms De-Bozie said she is sure her son will be able to get his confidence back with dogs.

She said: 'Initially, he said he didn't want Tai, but he's got over the shock and is fine with Tai. He knows that he's going to be much more wary about dogs, but knows there's no chance that Tai would ever hurt him.

'Tai would've been defending Iain, but Tai doesn't bite. If another dog attacks him, he just backs off. I know he's not capable of biting as I've got six cats and he gets bullied by all of them.'

Ms De-Boize said she has taken the difficult decision to speak out because she did not want her dog, or others like it, to be tarred as being bad.

The mother-of-two said: 'I was surprised it was a bulldog that attacked him as they are not normally known for biting, but I didn't see it and can't comment on it. I just saw the horrific result.

'He doesn't blame staffies and I certainly don't blame staffies. They've got such a bad name and I'm now campaigning on their behalf.'

Police arrived on the scene just before 3pm on Sunday and two dogs – a bulldog and a Staffordshire bull terrier – were seized.

Two people were arrested at the scene and taken into custody.

On Monday, police confirmed that Nathan Atkins, 20, of Goldsmith Street, Norwich, had been charged with allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place and to cause injury. He is due to appear before Norwich Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, July 19.

The 44-year-old woman arrested in connection with the attack was released without charge and the Staffordshire bull terrier, which belonged to her, has been given back to her.

Police say that 'procedures are being followed' to seek the destruction of the bulldog, which they say was not owned by Mr Atkins.

Do you have a crime story for the Evening News? Contact Peter Walsh on 01603 772439 or email peter.walsh@archant.co.uk