The P.E.I. Humane Society has put down a dog that killed another dog.

RCMP said the dog, described as a pit bull mixed breed weighing about 70 pounds, broke free and killed a Manchester terrier in Long Creek, outside of Cornwall, on Tuesday. The owners voluntarily surrendered the dog to the P.E.I. Humane Society the same day.

"Because of the severity of the attack on the other dog it was felt that the dog was too great a risk to put in the hands of an adopter in the community," said Marla Somersall, executive director of the P.E.I. Humane Society.

"The dog was actually quite comfortable with people. It would surprise people, probably, if they met this dog that this attack had happened."

The dog was put down Wednesday.

Know your dog's history, humane society cautions

The dog came from a rescue society in the United States, Somersall said, and the owners had not had it very long.

Somersall said she doesn't know what information these owners had on the dog, or what precautions they had taken, but she said it is important for people adopting dogs to get all the information they can about them.

"People are looking to save dogs, but they need to be sure that they're getting history on where that dog came from and how it was trained and any possible information on behaviour before they take it into their home," Somersall said.

If that information is not available, she said, the safe course of action is to not adopt the dog.

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