Sir Elton John’s dog reportedly big a young girl’s face.
The ‘Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word’ singer and his husband David Furnish have been slammed by Mari Kieran, who claims the pair haven’t been in contact at all after her five-year-old daughter Charlotte was left bloodied and traumatised after one of the couple’s spaniels lashed out when she was visiting the pair’s home in Old Windsor, Berks, South East England, for a playdate with their sons Zachary, seven, and Elijah, four.
Mari fumed: "Their dog full on bit my child in the face. I don’t care who they are. It was revolting…
"I was quite shocked [they didn’t call] because it wasn’t an insignificant thing that happened.
"The dog didn’t just nip her, it bit her in the face and left scarring. I’m really upset there’s never been a phone call asking if there was anything they could do…
"This is Elton John and David Furnish’s animal attacking a child and at the very least I would have expected a phone call."
And Mari insisted Elton, 70 and his 55-year-old spouse – who were not at home when the alleged attack happened – "absolutely did know" what their dog had done, but never mentioned the incident on the "number of occasions" they had seen her at their children’s school since.
She added to The Sun on Sunday newspaper: "They absolutely did know about it. You can make assumptions but I don’t know why they didn’t apologise or ask how Charlotte was.
"It’s about responsibility as well, and being a responsible adult. I don’t care about status or celebrity.
"This is about everyday human decency and values and ethics. And when it comes to the crunch this is about a child. This was bad and it could have been far worse. If I had an animal and it turned on another person’s child I would have been mortified and gone out of my way to make sure the child was OK."
Mari – whose nanny was supervising Charlotte at the house – said her daughter had been left in need of counselling after the bite.
She told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: "You could see how traumatised she was and the terror in her face. It was awful.
"She was shaking and her eyes were glazed. I’ve never seen a child so traumatised. How would you feel if a dog bit your face? She was only five.
"I phoned the non-emergency line to seek advice. She didn’t need any stitches but she goes and sees a counsellor regularly.
"She wanted to be a vet and was tactile as a little girl. But she is, as a consequence of what has happened, very, very wary of dogs."
Mari doesn’t plan to take legal action over the bite, but decided to speak out now as Charlotte – who is now seven – no longer goes to the same school as Zachary and Elijah.
The ‘I’m Still Standing’ singer has three pet cocker spaniels, Arthur Dwight, Marilyn and Isobella, but it is not known which of them allegedly bit the youngster.