My son was left covered in blood after being nearly mauled to death by a vicious XL Bully – a heroic act saved his life

PARENTS of a three-year-old boy mauled in the street by a vicious XL bully dog have thanked their hero neighbours for saving their son’s life.

Little Denis Jano suffered terrible injuries to his face and scalp after the powerful beast clamped his head in its jaws as he played outside.

He also suffered bruising to his arm and back after the shocking mauling.

Only the swift action of hero neighbours, who fought to pull the snarling dog off terrified Denis, stopped the attack.

One resident who lives on the road in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, grabbed the vicious dog “by the b******s” to make it release its grip on Denis.

The XL bully has been destroyed by cops following the attack on Monday afternoon.

And the 42-year-old female owner has been arrested on suspicion of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control.

Denis is now back at home following treatment at Sheffield General Hospital for the bite marks.

His mother, who is Czech, and Slovakian  father, have five other children and today thanked those neighbours who ran to Denis’ aid, saying: “They saved his life.”

The family was still in process of moving in to the red-brick terraced house on Monday at 2pm when the dog attacked.

“We only moved here on Friday and we were painting and shopping and getting things in the house,” they said.

Mum said: “Me and Denis and the smallest girl, we went outside. Denis was next to me playing with a toy shopping trolley.

“The lady with the dog opened the gate to take out the garbage can. The dog got out of the gate and ran towards Denis.

“I was yelling ‘no’, ‘no’, but it came and bit him.

“I was screaming and grabbed my little girl in my arms.”

One neighbour who heard her screaming, Thomas Hogan, 23, ran out of his house to help.

Thomas said: “I saw the dog with the kid’s head in its mouth. His mother was really screaming.

“Other neighbours came to help and managed to drag the dog off, one of us got the dog by the bollocks.

“I thought the dog was going to kill him. There was blood all over the little boy’s dad’s shirt.”

Thomas dialled 999 after the dog was under control and back locked behind the iron gates of his owner’s home.

Police seized the dog and it has since been destroyed.

Thomas said: “The dog was vicious. It has previously killed a neighbour’s cat, and bitten another child – but nowhere near as badly.”

The house where the XL bully lived has broken windows and nobody answered the door today.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Police were called to the attack on a three-year-old boy by an XL bully just after 2pm on Monday.

“He was taken to hospital to be treated for his injuries.

“The animal has been seized and a 42-year-old woman was bailed after being arrested on suspicion of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control.”

An investigation is now ongoing and anybody with information about the information should contact police on 101, quoting incident 538 of April 17.