TORONTO

It took 15 seconds for a dog to burst into Jon Dunnill’s condo Tuesday night, snatch up his 12-year-old petite Havanese dog and maul her to death.

“Halfway through that time, I could see she was already gone,” Dunnill told the Toronto Sun Wednesday. “She was torn open and there was blood everywhere. It was very vicious.”

Sitting in his living room a day after his dog, April, an 8-pound Havenese. was killed there, Dunnill was stunned that it could have happened.

“She was very friendly and was very submissive to any dog that comes up to her,” he said. “I took her this morning to be cremated.”

Dunnill’s sister-in-law Addy was returning to the fourth-floor unit — in the Carlaw Ave. and Dundas St. E. area — around 8:30 p.m. with Mila, a Cockapoo-Schnauzer, when they were confronted in the hallway by the larger dog living two doors down, running towards them.

Addy said she picked up Mila and turned her back to the lunging dog, resulting in a 10-cm-long scratch in her back. She and the small dog got inside the condo, but the powerful larger canine used its strength to push its way inside.

“I heard its teeth snap,” she said.

Dunnill was working at a table in the living room area and April was resting by his feet when the intruding dog chomped down on her.

“It’s not the first thought that comes into my head — that a dog is going to try and kill my dog. It was kind of trotting. I don’t remember it growling, but it went right to April,” he said. “And before I knew it, (the dog) was just flinging (her) around.”

The dog refused to unlock its grip, despite Dunnill punching and kicking it to get it to release his dog’s torso.

“I picked up the (attacking) dog by the scruff and dragged it to the door and then the owner was there,” he said.

Neighbours came out of their units and one called police and Toronto Animal Services. The larger dog’s owner, who Addy said warned them a month ago that her dog didn’t like small dogs and to “keep your dog on a leash,” was in tears. The owner could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Although Dunnill believes the dog was a pit bull, Toronto Animal Services described it as a Mastiff.

TAS spokesman Tammy Robbinson said the dog is in the custody of animal services after the owner surrendered it.

“The dog will have a behavioural assessment and a determination will be made based on that outcome of that assessment,” she said. “TAS will be investigating the incident and charges are possible under the Dog Owner Liability Act.”

Dunnill said he has spoken to the condo board and been told the animal is now banned from the building. He said he doesn’t plan on pressing charges because he doesn’t feel a fine is the appropriate outcome. He is calling for an outright ban on dangerous dog breed ownership in Toronto.

“This illustrates why dangerous animals should not be pets, because they’re unpredictable, so these kinds of accidents will happen,” he said. “It’s like having a wild animal.”

The president of the Canadian Mastiff Club, when shown pictures of the dog in question, said it resembles more of pit bull, which are banned from Ontario unless the dogs were grandfathered prior to the ban, which began in August 2005.

According to existing legislation, pit bull owners have to have their dogs leashed and muzzled in public.

jyuen@postmedia.com