A dog bit and badly injured a 3-year-old girl who was playing outside in a northern Minnesota yard, officials said.

The incident occurred about 9:40 a.m. Thursday in Ten Lake Township, about 13 miles east of Bemidji, said Beltrami County Sheriff's chief deputy Jarrett Walton.

An ambulance arrived in the 1700 block of SE. Mission Road, where the dog bit the girl as she played in the yard with her mother, Walton said.

"The child suffered severe injuries from the attack," Walton said in a statement.

The girl was taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Fargo, the chief deputy said.

Walton said Saturday night that the dog was "taken into custody by Leech Lake Tribal Police Department Animal Control, and disposition is pending."