It was a family outing to Sentosa turned painfully sour, when three-year-old Matilda Sail was attacked by a dog twice her size last Sunday.

Matilda was knocked to the ground, had both her ears chewed on, and was aggressively shaken by a Siberian husky.

It all happened while she was walking towards her sister at Tanjung Beach.

The poor girl was suddenly knocked to the ground by the assailant canine, which proceeded to lunge at her left ear, bloodily ripping a part of it off.

The Siberian husky then shook the shocked toddler by the ear, released her, and went for the other ear, gripping and shaking her again.

Father Jamie Sail, 41, who was some 20 metres away from his daughter, witnessed the entire event. He managed to chase the canine away just as it put both its paws on the girl's chest and appeared to be going for her throat.

For her injuries, Matilda required surgery under general anaesthesia to stitch back the partially-torn ear, and had to spend a night at Mount Elizabeth hospital. The medical bill came up to $3,400.

After carrying his daughter to the car, Mr Sail returned to the beach to look for the dog, picking up a stick the size of a baseball bat on the way.

He was out for revenge. "I planned to kill the dog," he told The New Paper (TNP).

The fashion retailer found the dog standing behind two women, and tried to hit it several times. He later demanded for the dog owner's contact details and for the canine to be sent immediately to the vet for a disease check.

"I would be surprised if a dog that has attacked a child is not put down. It is dangerous," he told TNP.

For the full story, read today's The New Paper.