The family of a young boy savaged by an XL Bully dog in a Co Wexford housing estate have lodged personal injury proceedings against two people and the Tuath housing association.

Alejandro Mizsan was nine years old when he was mauled by the dog while playing with friends in the Forgelands estate in Enniscorthy in November 2022. He suffered devastating injuries to his head and face, including losing 60 per cent of his lower lip.

Niall Byrne and Karen Miller, both formerly of the Forgelands estate, were given prison sentences in 2024 when they appeared before Wexford Circuit Court in relation to the attack.

Miller, then 38, who was walking the dog when the attack occurred, pleaded guilty to two charges of endangerment in relation to the attack on Alejandro and a separate attack by the same dog on another child four days earlier.

She also pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction for not telling gardaí the location of the dog while it was being put down.

Byrne, then 29, pleaded guilty to the inhumane destruction of an animal and to two counts of threatening to kill or cause serious harm.

Miller was jailed for three years, with the final 12 months suspended, while Byrne was given the same sentence but with a credit of 12 months for time already served.

A GoFundMe page set up for the Mizsan family by a neighbour has since raised almost €200,000. Alejandro was left requiring extensive cosmetic surgery and other care as a result of the attack.

In the wake of the attack Tuath said tenants in the estate were strictly prohibited from keeping certain types of dogs and that Miller and Byrne had since left the estate.

Court records show that High Court proceedings on behalf of Alejandro were lodged by his father, Ion Florin Mizsan, late last year with the defendants being Byrne, Miller and Tuath.

The Forgelands attack was one of a number of serious attacks in recent years involving XL Bully breeds, including a fatal attack in 2024 on Nicole Morey (23), from Limerick city, who was attacked by her own dogs. A ban on the breed and crossbreed variations has since been introduced.