Western Bay of Plenty District Council is investigating a 'serious” dog attack on Matakana Island, which left a Tauranga toddler with wounds to the back of her head.

The three-year-old girl was airlifted to Tauranga Hospital about 7.30pm on Saturday by the Tauranga-based Trustpower TECT Rescue Helicopter after being bitten by the dog on a dairy farm.

A three-year-old is recovering after being bitten by a dog on Matakana Island.

A Tauranga Hospital spokesperson says the three-year-old was discharged from hospital on Monday, but no further information on the girl's injuries could be obtained.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council customer services group manager Steve Hill says council is investigating the attack.

'We don't have much to go on, but what we can say is all our information we have got is from newspapers as nobody has formally reported it to us and nobody has made a complaint,” says Steve.

Council treats any dog attacks on a person as serious, but with no formal complaint investigations will take some time, says Steve, as he has no information on the family or type of dog.

On Sunday, Trustpower TECT Rescue Helicopter pilot Liam Brettkelly said the girl was on a dairy farm when the attack happened and believes it was a farm dog that bit her. It is not know why the dog attacked the girl.

'Attacks against people are always serious so now that we have got that and been advised in that sense we are investigating it, but it won't be a simple matter,” says Steve.

'We will be conferring with police. We are taking what we think is appropriate action to investigate this report.”