Lee and Michelle Pearson, of Wilberforce Road, are appealing against a court’s ruling that three-year-old Bully should be put down.

Ten-year-old Chloe Grayson, who lives on the same street, needed plastic surgery after the dog suddenly leapt up and bit her in the face at the Pearson’s house party on 31st December 2007.

District Judge John Foster sealed the dog’s fate at Rotherham Magistrates Court on 15th April this year - saying the risk of a repeat attack was too great.

But the dog owners felt they have a strong enough appeal case to take to crown court, and have vowed to save their pet from destruction.

”We are going to get justice for Bully, and are determined to fight to save him,” said Michelle. ”He is a loving family pet and is by no means a dangerous dog.

The Pearsons are appealing on two main counts - that Judge Foster did not give proper consideration to canine consultant Mike Mullan’s report on Bully and that they were denied the opportunity to have their own representation at the Rotherham hearing in April.

After being told by his solicitors they were unable to attend, Mr Pearson was denied an adjournment at the hearing - meaning he had to represent himself in court.

Mrs Pearson argued that this weakened their case against the Graysons as they faced answering questions from Judge Foster without legal advice.

”It was hard for Lee to consider every angle fully without proper advice, ” she said. ”He told the truth when he said he couldn’t promise this attack wouldn’t happen again, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t measures we can take to prevent it.”

She added that Mr Mullan, who carried out an in-depth physical and temperament test on Bully on 8th April, gave strong evidence in his favour - to which Judge Foster gave insufficient consideration, according to the Pearsons.

The canine expert has trained dogs for over 58 years and said if Bully was a genuinely dangerous dog who wanted to attack Chloe, the physical damage would have been considerably worse.

”He was subjected to a thorough and at times unpleasant examination, but he co-operated fully and is a perfect and friendly family pet,” he told the Guardian earlier this year.

”He is used to jumping up to people on a basic hand signal. If Chloe had made any signal with her hands, albeit unknowingly, she could have invited him to jump up on her. No-one was at fault - it was just circumstances.”

Mr Mullan said he felt it was unfair the Pearsons had to represent themselves in court, adding that he felt confident the outcome would have been different if he had been able to appear and offer his advice to Judge Foster.

”Whether a person is right or wrong, it’s completely unfair to be expected to take on a solicitor,” he said. ”I am angry this was allowed to happen - this is not British justice.