A three-year-old boy savagely bitten by a dog is recovering in hospital after spending more than a week in intensive care.
A relative's dog bit the boy on the throat as he was eating chocolate in Ashburton on January 18.
He was critically injured and spent more than a week in intensive care in Christchurch Hospital, then Starship Hospital in Auckland.
He was now in a stable condition in a ward, a Starship Hospital spokeswoman told NZ Newswire on Sunday.
The dog was put down at its owner's request.
The boy was one of at least five children who been badly bitten in dog attacks since Christmas, prompting Local Government Minister Nick Smith to promise to investigate New Zealand's dog control laws.
NZN