A 10-year-old girl mauled by a dog in Melbourne is lucky to be alive, one of the neighbours who helped saved her says.
'Jimmy' was at home in suburban Berwick watching television with his wife when they heard screaming from a nearby house.
"A young girl came out saying her sister was being attacked by the dog," he said. "She told us it was a Russian bullmastiff."
Jimmy and another neighbour ran to the home where they found the girl banging on a door trying to get away from the dog.
"We tried to get the door open. As I opened the door, this massive head was coming through the door frothing at the mouth. It was obviously going to go us," Jimmy told Nine Network on Monday.
The men went around to the side of the house and distracted the dog, allowing the girl to escape.
"I'm glad we were there because the young girl probably wouldn't have survived," Jimmy said.
The child suffered serious injuries including bites and lacerations and is believed to have lost an ear in the attack.
She remains in hospital.
Local council rangers have seized the dog.
Bullmastiffs are a large breed of dog and their ancestry can be traced back to the English mastiff and the English bulldog.
