A five-year-old girl has been hospitalised with facial injuries after being attacked by a dog in Whakatane this afternoon.
The girl was thought to be visiting friends or family when she was attacked, a Westpac Waikato air ambulance spokesman said.
She was flown to Waikato Hospital with "many facial lacerations", he said.
Waikato Hospital spokeswoman Mary Anne Gill said the extent of her injuries was not yet known but she was being assessed in the emergency department.
The girl was the second person to be attacked by a dog this week.
Former All White and current Wellington provincial football coach Stu Jacobs was attacked by an unrestrained bullmastiff on Thursday.
Jacobs had been holding a coaching clinic for young children at Wellington's Rongotai College when he saw the dog attack what appeared to be a labrador being walked on a leash.
He said he noticed the owner of the labrador was struggling with the situation so he went over and helped try to separate the animals.
Jacobs was bitten on the ankle, forearm and thumb and required 34 stitches.
