"When he grabbed the dog with his mouth, I actually heard the bones break," said Karen Bongard, the dog attack victim.
In that frightful moment, Whisper, a little five pound Yorkshire terrier was killed.
The dog was snatched from Karen Bongard's arms which were bitten.
Both she and Whisper were no match for the powerful jaws of an attacking pit bull.
"He wanted the dog, but as I was trying to, you know, swat him away, then he bit me," Bongard said.
The pit bull, Taz, is at least 75 pounds.
Taz attacked without provocation, Karen says, coming out of nowhere as she took Whisper for his last walk of the night along Bethune Boulevard in Spring Valley.
"When he knocked me to the ground, that's when he grabbed my dog. He was just able to grab my dog," Bongard said.
Even neighbors tried to help.
They threw sticks and stones at the dog, trying to chase it away.
They said the situation was crazy.
"Did she even have a chance to save her dog?" Eyewitness News asked.
"No. The whole hood, the neighborhood, tried to help and beat the dog. The dog was just too beasty, too beasty, too beasty man," said one neighborhood resident.
No one was home, where Taz's owner lives.
The house has a "beware of dog" sign posted at the front door.
Taz is now under bite quarantine at the Hi-Tor Animal Care Center in Pomona.
That's where he will stay for the next 10 days while Spring Valley's Animal Control officer investigates the incident, and determines if the owner will be charged.
In the meantime, Karen and her family miss their fluffy little 5-year-old Whisper, who despite his small size was a big part of their family.
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