Angry at the decision, the 23-year-old owner of the dogs has already vowed to take legal action, newspaper Fædrelandsvennen reports.

The boy’s mother and uncle were also badly bitten after an escaped French Mastiff tried to drag the child from a playground into the nearby woods in Mandal on July 4th.

Witnesses to the horrific attack said the French Mastiff jumped over a fence in a nearby garden before rushing towards the toddler.

As the dog tried to haul the child away, the boy’s mother jumped on top of her son to protect him.

Police said the child suffered a deep open wound on his back, while the woman was left with a large gash on her arm.

The boy’s uncle, a 17-year-old named as Ferdi Fezullah, said he ran over to intervene after hearing his sister’s frantic cries.

Just then, two more dogs – both reported to be a cross between a Doberman and a Rottweiler –  escaped from the same garden. One of the new arrivals bit the teenager on the back, arm and knee.

“The man was treated at the emergency ward in Mandal, while the two others were admitted to Sørlandet Hospital with nasty bite wounds,” police spokeswoman Ingrid Mæhre told news agency NTB at the time.

The trio’s bloody ordeal ended when the owner of the two most aggressive dogs arrived at the scene and managed to pull the animals away.

The third dog belonged to his brother.

Police in the Agder district initially ruled that two of the animals should be put to sleep. But the owner appealed the move to the police directorate, which has now given its backing to the original decision.  

The 23-year-old, however, has the right to take the matter to court, and has already indicated that he intends to do so.

He is currently paying 12,000 kroner ($2,000) a month to have the dogs kept at a kennel in Mandal.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, are still considering whether to press charges against the dog owner.