PORTLAND (AP) – The mother of a girl who was bitten by a Lisbon police dog says her daughter has been traumatized by the encounter and she has hired a lawyer to consider her legal options.

“I just feel like the police aren’t doing enough,” said Wendy Doyon. “I feel helpless as a parent at this point.”

Doyon’s daughter Tianna Linton, 9, was visiting her uncle, Lisbon Police Sgt. Scott Stewart, when she went into a porch area and was bitten on her elbow last week by a German Shepherd that Stewart trains. The laceration required 20 stitches.

Neither Stewart nor Doyon were home when the incident occurred, and Stewart said his niece was told not to enter the house.

“Anyone who has a dog can understand how this happens,” he said.

Stewart said the incident has been exaggerated and his niece was not supposed to be near the dog. He said the dog, named Jag, had never bitten anyone, including his two children, who are 10 and 15.

“I’ve had the dog for five years and it hasn’t been a problem,” Stewart said, adding that the incident should have no bearing on the dog’s police career.

A Lisbon police spokesman said Stewart and Jag have been through extensive training at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.

Jag is the department’s only canine and is trained to track suspects and to sniff out narcotics.