Adam Boyd, with his pet Tess, suffered wounds to his leg

The owner of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier type pet has also been cautioned for allowing it to be dangerously out of control in public.

The animal went on the rampage in West Denton, on Tuesday, and left Adam Boyd, 10, with a badly mauled thigh.

It then attacked Robbie Fulthorpe, six, and a girl who was not badly hurt. On Monday a girl from Merseyside, died when she was mauled by a family pet.

Minor scratches

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "The 46 year-old woman who owns the Staffordshire Bull Terrier-type dog voluntarily attended Etal Lane police station.

"After consulting with the Crown Prosecution Service, the woman, from Newcastle, was given a formal caution for allowing the dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place.

"She also agreed for the animal to be destroyed."

Minutes after the dog attacked Adam, officers spotted it biting six-year-old Robbie's buttock, in Burnside.

They then cornered the animal and a police dog handler took it to the Northumbria Police kennels.

The force later confirmed a young girl also suffered "minor scratches" in a third incident.

Adam is a pupil at West Denton Primary School and has a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Tess - the same breed of dog that attacked him.

He said: "I was out with my friends when the dog came from nowhere.

"The dog bit me on the leg. If he had got any higher he could have pulled me over and then gone for my face."

'Lovely breed'

Robbie Fulthorpe was bitten on the legs by the dog as he waited outside a shop for a friend.

He said: "The dog...appeared and grabbed hold of my trousers and I fell down on the floor. It hurts a lot now, but I didn't feel anything at the time."

Adam Boyd's father Phillip, 43, said: "He's been very lucky. Dogs like that shouldn't be allowed out without a collar or a harness.

"I've bred Staffies for years and they're a lovely breed.

"They're not vicious at all. You can't blame that dog - it's the owners."