Police think three adult pit bulls chewed through a neighbor's fence, then tore up a chihuahua named "Grandma" killing it.

Then they attacked the woman trying to get the dog back.

"They were mauling me, jumping on me and trying to bite me," Ashley Hayes said.

Hayes admits she was simply trying to make sure the dogs did not eat the chihuahua but realized afterward getting in the middle of the fight was not a safe move.

Hayes and her husband called the police. When animal law enforcement arrived at the home on the southeast side of Colorado Springs, the owner of the pit bulls told officers he had the dogs, but later said his sister-in-law came to pick up two of them, and he had one in the house.

When officers asked to see the lone dog remaining, he told them all of them had run away. Police believe he is lying.

“it is going to the warrant status and he was made well aware of that, that didn’t affect him at all," Sgt. Jeff Rigney explained. "He just didn’t care...he was uncooperative.”

Edward Mussaw, another one of the owners of the chihuahua says the owner of the pit bulls came over and apologized for his dogs afterward, but police told him to leave.

Now police believe that neighbor is hiding those dogs.

“He is going to get himself deeper into legal issues if he does not produce these dogs,” Sgt. Rigney stated.

Officers believe those dogs to be dangerous, and said it was a very real possibility that another animal or even a child could be the next victim.

11 News tried to speak with the owners of the pit bulls, but a man told our reporter "I'll have my dogs bite you" and cursed the reporter out.