A mum has made a desperate plea to police to return her family dog after it was seized by officers.

Jess Petty’s crossbreed Blu was seized by police on Tuesday (May 30) after he bit a teenager the previous evening.

But Jess says her ‘big baby’ was teased and that the bite was totally out of character as she has pleaded to police to allow her dog to return home.

Read more: Police cordon in place and three teens arrested after serious early-morning crash

The mum-of-two, 24, told the Echo: “He’s just a little baby.

“He’s been brought up around my kids all his life and we have had him since he was six weeks old. He was me and my partner’s first dog when we moved in together.

“It’s totally out of character for him, he’s never done anything like that before.

“We have a pen in the garden for the dogs when we’re at work and it was my niece looking after them who got bit.”

The Northern Echo: Blu is four-years-oldBlu is four-years-old (Image: CLEVELAND POLICE)

Officers were initially called to the Port Clarence area of Stockton on Monday (May 29) where a 15-year-old girl sustained ‘serious but not life-threatening’ injuries. Police released an appeal urging members of the public not to approach Blu “under any circumstances”.

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Blu was found the next day by the family and they called police to alert them he was home. Officers soon came around to seize the animal.

“It has been taken way too far – if he was a little dog it would be different, it’s just because of the breed he is,” Jess, who works part-time as a hairdresser and home carer, added.

“I just don’t want anyone to think he’s this big dangerous dog. When the police came to get him we were in the garden and he was hugging and kissing us.

“It was just horrible seeing all the comments online because people don’t know the situation or the dog.

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“It has been awful the last few days, I can hardly sleep its just constantly on my mind.

“It would be everything to get him back and it would absolutely kill us if they destroyed him. He doesn’t deserve this.”

The family has since launched a petition in a bid to get Blu home

The Northern Echo has contacted Cleveland Police for a comment.