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A judge has spared the life of a rottweiler despite it biting a 12-year-old girl.
Saxo had faced being put down after he escaped from a yard at his owner's bungalow and attacked schoolgirl Megan Lyndsey.
Canterbury Crown Court heard that the terrified girl was protected from serious injury by her thick winter clothes which stopped the four-year-old dog's teeth from breaking the skin on her arm.
Saxo's 69-year-old owner, Richard Silver, agreed to keep the animal locked up, after admitting it was dangerously out of control.
The court heard that a group of schoolchildren were standing near Ursuline College, Canterbury Road, in December last year when the dog appeared.
"As they were waiting, along bounded Silver's rottweiler called Saxo, causing a young boy to run away. The dog went past him and jumped at another girl who managed to push it away," said Denzil Pugh, prosecuting. "It then transferred its attention to Megan. Fortunately she was wearing thick clothing but was nonetheless bitten by the animal which held onto her for about five seconds."
Mr Silver, an industrial cleaner who suffers from asbestosis, was told his dog was out and arrived at the scene to call it off. He later told police officers that he was '99.9VIRTUAL-SkimlinksPromo%