MASON CITY, Iowa – Police are investigating a reported dog attack on Saturday morning.

The Mason City Police Department says it got a call around 5 am from someone who said they were attacked by a dog in their yard in the 1400 block of North Carolina Place. Police say the victim was bitten multiple times and needed immediate medical attention. There were wounds to the cheek and both hands and stitches to the left arm.

Kyle Torneten was getting his phone out of his car when the dog came up to him. While reaching down to pet him, the dog became vicious and attacked him. Fortunately, he was able to fight it off.

"I was able to pin him down, and I just held him down there long enough to where he stopped moving. And I ran. I hopped up and ran."

The dog was described as a Pitbull Terrier kind of animal, mostly charcoal gray with white legs and white fur on the back of the head running down the side of its face to the chest. It was later located by a neighbor about a black away from the attack until animal control could pick it up around 10:50 am.

Torneten has two Pitbulls of his own, both of which are well trained, and has a reminder for owners.

"Aggression can't be allowed at all. They're too powerful of animals, and if they snap on somebody, this is what could happen."

Police say the dog has no tags and the victim reports never seeing the dog in the neighborhood before and did not know the owner. Anyone who knows of a dog matching this description, especially in the Highland neighborhood, is asked to call the Mason City Police Department.