A father suffered horrific facial injuries when he was mauled by a dog just an hour after he collected it from a rescue kennels.

A chunk of Patrick Hamnett's face was bitten off by the Staffordshire bull terrier as he and his daughter Nicole. 13, tried to get to know the animal.

She had to haul the dog off her father to halt the attack, before shutting it in the garden shed and calling 999.

Mr Hamnett, 47, knelt down to give the dog, called Lennie, a treat but it savaged him in the garden of his home in Edward Street, Anstey, on Thursday.

Mr Hamnett's wife, Julie, 51, rushed home to go with her husband to accident and emergency.

She said: "His face was just horrible. His bottom lip had been torn off and he had a chunk missing from the side of his face. There was blood everywhere. He was in a terrible state.

"I shudder to think about it. He's been so badly mauled. The paramedic asked if the dog had swallowed Pat's lip, or if it was in the garden because they thought they might be able to sew it back on."

The family picked Lennie up from Hathern's College Garth Kennels at 1pm and the attack happened at 2.30pm.

Nicole said: "I'd been sitting in the back of the car with the dog for half-an-hour on the way home and he was fine.

"We were in the garden and dad told him to sit and he did. Dad said 'Paw' and he gave him a paw, so he bent down to give him a bone.

"Then the dog jumped on him and started biting him on the face.

"I was terrified but I grabbed it and pulled it away from him.

"Dad ran in the house and the dog calmed down again. I shut him in the shed and called the ambulance."

Mr Hamnett is awaiting surgery at Leicester Royal Infirmary. He can't eat or speak properly.

Mrs Hamnett said: "They are talking about grafting other bits off his body for the surgery to repair his face, though he will end up with scars."

She said the family had decided to get a rescued dog from the kennels and visited the organisation on Sunday.

They saw Lennie, who had arrived as a stray.

Mrs Hamnett said: "He was a beautiful dog and he seemed really nice, so we decided we wanted him.

"The kennels keep every dog for a week so we couldn't take him straight away and they had to come and do a home check on us to make sure we were able to look after him.

"All was fine but as soon as we got him home this happens.

"What has happened to Pat is dreadful but it could have easily been Nicole who had her face torn up.

"She was very brave about it but was really shaken up seeing her dad attacked like that."

Mrs Hamnett said the family had previously taken in a Staffordshire Cross called Honey from the kennels and had returned hoping to get another good dog.

But she added: "I would like to know what sort of checks they do to make sure the dogs they rehome are safe because this one clearly wasn't."

Lennie was returned to the kennels by a dog warden while the family were in hospital.

Mrs Hamnett said she thought he should be destroyed. The Leicester Mercury contacted the kennels but staff said they were unable to comment because owner John Barker was away.