STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 16-year routine for two dog owners from Eltingville ended in horror after the couple’s Pomeranian was brutally attacked and killed by a passing pit bull who overpowered the child who was walking it.

The couple, who spoke to the Advance under the condition their name not be published, said that their beloved dog would commonly follow the female homeowner without a leash as she took out the garbage for the evening.

It’s a routine “he’s always done for 16 years of his life,” the husband said.

The couple’s dog, as shown in the dramatic and gruesome video captured by the family’s Ring doorbell on March 16, follows the homeowner and walks to the curb a few feet away before urinating by a mailbox.

Shortly after, a pit bull being walked on a leash by a small grade-school child crosses paths with the family pet.

The pit bull viciously and unexpectedly latches onto the Pomeranian “like a chew toy,” the homeowner said, “and threw him around.”

The child drops the leash and runs to the adult, who was too far behind to immediately stop the attack.

“My wife jumped on top of (the dog)" in an attempt to stop the mauling, the husband explained.

“She was trying to pry the teeth off our dog,” he said.

The pit bull continued to thrash the smaller dog relentlessly, rapidly jolting its head back-and-forth as the helpless Pomeranian is ripped from its feet off of the curb.

The wife, screaming throughout the attack, desperately attempted to pull the pit bull away from her dog.

The woman who was accompanying the child walking the dog then attempted to unclench the pit bull’s teeth from the victim, but was initially unable to.

“Oh my God, it killed my dog,” the Pomeranian’s female owner can be heard saying.

As the attack was ongoing, the man said that he heard the commotion and his wife screaming and ran outside the house, still garbed in his robe.

He can be seen cradling the motionless dog in his arms.

Following the attack, which lasts less than 20 seconds, the couple quickly attempted to transport their dog to an animal hospital in New Dorp.

The man said that he frantically drove in the hopes that they could save the Pomeranian.

But when he arrived, “they told me he already passed,” he said.

According to the homeowner, the pit bull’s teeth punctured the chest and heart of his dog, killing him.

“Me and my wife and family are devastated with the cruel way we were forced to watch our beloved dog die,” the man said.

“My dog was 16,” he said, “and while he had a good life, it shouldn’t have happened the way it happened.”

“He should have died in my arms,” he said.

After the couple leaves for the hospital, continued video from the Ring doorbell shows the woman with the pit bull walk down the block, away from the scene of the attack. However, concerned neighbors of the Pomeranian’s owner track down the woman to take her information.

The owner of the pit bull, who lives on Village Lane, according to information provided to the Pomeranian’s owners, said the smaller dog “came running out of the house” during a phone interview.

“I had just given my daughter the leash,” she said before the phone call disconnected.

The pit bull owner did not respond to following attempts to contact her.

While the Pomeranian’s owner said that he has filed a case with the Department of Health, police were unable to write a report because dog-on-dog attacks are not handled by the NYPD, the Eltingville couple said.

An NYPD spokeswoman said that police responded to the scene on March 16, but that the incident was referred to Civil Court.

A source with knowledge of the Department of Health’s investigation into the attack said that the incident is currently being probed.

However, the homeowners are worried about the possibility the dog attacks again.

“I worry about other small dogs in our neighborhood and small children as well," he said.

“Me and my wife live in fear for ourselves and our kids that he will return to our area,” adding that multiple neighbors saw the pit bull in the area following the incident.

“I am actively warning all residents on my block with small children and small dogs of the danger but if someone doesn’t step in, I fear that next time it might be a child or person,” the man said.

Dog attacks have been a troubling trend on Staten Island in recent months.

Not far from the location of the mauling, a 75-year-old woman and her poodle were attacked by two dogs who broke loose of their Great Kills home recently. A source says that the Department of Health is investigating that incident as well.

Last year, Sunnyside was terrorized by multiple dog attacks caught on video.

According to a source with knowledge of the Department of Health investigation, the owner of the dog in those incidents signed a stipulation after the agency completed its probe.

The details of the stipulation were not immediately available.