This cute one-year-old girl is fighting for her life in hospital after being attacked by a neighbour’s pit bull while playing in the garden and being dragged from the property.

The dog attack took place in the city of Niteroi in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area on the afternoon of 16th January.

According to the news site G1, the girl was playing in the garden when a neighbour’s dog ran over and mauled her.

Ana Karen Oliveira Ximenes, just 22 months old, was even dragged off the property by the neighbour’s pit bull.

Relatives managed to rescue the toddler and she was taken to the Hospital Estadual Alberto Torres in the city of Sao Goncalo, also in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area, where she is being treated in the ICU in a serious condition.

The hospital reported that Ana Karen suffered severe injuries to her face and neck and will need to undergo at least five surgeries if she pulls through.

The girl’s distraught mother declined to leave a comment, but her aunt Eliete Oliveira said that the family is from the Brazilian state of Ceara and was visiting relatives in Rio de Janeiro State.

The dog’s owner, named as Antonio Robison Alves, 30, went to the hospital and presented himself to police officers attending the incident.

According to reports, he told the police that the pit bull is usually left loose and unattended, and he was charged with negligence in animal care and was released pending the completion of the investigation.

The penalty for negligence in animal care carries a jail term of up to two months or a fine, but can be upgraded in the event of a victim’s death.

The victim will turn two years old on 18th February.