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DARTMOUTH, N.S. – A small dog is dead after an American Staffordshire Terrier (commonly known as a pit bull) allegedly chased it into its home and attacked it Monday morning.

“She was like a family member like almost, basically, like my child,” said Rachelle Coward, the owner of Diamond, the dead four-year-old Pomeranian. Tweet This

READ MORE: Unknown dog enters Dartmouth home, drags family’s dog outside and kills it

The St. Mary’s University student was about to leave for work when the pit bull showed up and chased her dog into the living room of her home on Fourth Street in Dartmouth.

“And I was on top of him, and I was just trying to do anything that I could so that he would just unlock his jaws on her neck,” said Coward. Tweet This

She said she believes the dog died before the pit bull pulled it away to a neighbour’s driveway.

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“I don’t know how I could be taking her out to pee one minute, and then the next minute, she’s gone,” said Coward.

Rachelle Coward's dog was killed by a dog that chased it into her home yesterday: https://t.co/tV7RuDwabQ #Dartmouth pic.twitter.com/oHyrpX0Nax — Steve Silva (@SteveCSilva) December 15, 2015

The pit bull eventually let go of Diamond, leaving her in the blood-stained snow.

Animal Control ingestigating

Halifax Regional Police captured the pit bull, then turned the investigation over to Animal Control.

Brendan Elliott, a senior communications adviser for the Halifax Regional Municipality, said municipal compliance officers are interviewing witnesses, and there is no time frame for when the investigation will end.

He said that there are a variety of things that can result from this incident; including municipal bylaw charges, requiring the pit bull wear a muzzle when it’s off the owner’s property, the HRM requesting the dog be put into its custody permanently, or the dog being euthanized.

“Through a search of our database, we can say that the owner of the alleged attacking dog is not known to us. We’ve never had any involvement with the owner of this dog before,” said Elliott.

He would not reveal any names but said the owner lives in Coward’s neighbourhood.

.@hfxgov's Brendan Elliott on poss. penalties for owner of dog that allegedly killed dog (https://t.co/tV7RuDwabQ): pic.twitter.com/0NV8EJ9wTC — Steve Silva (@SteveCSilva) December 15, 2015

“If there’s anything we can take away from this incident and any time there’s an attack involving two dogs, is the importance of having your dog on a leash at all times,”added Elliott. Tweet This

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The pit bull is currently at a shelter. Coward has plans to cremate Diamond soon.

“All I know how to do is take it day by day. Nothing’s going to bring my dog back, and I know that she’s not a human, but she means a lot to me,” said Coward.