In this exclusive surveillance video obtained by us, you can see Cara Emes in the upper left of the screen, trying to hold her pup Gus out of the way of a pit bull. She was also yelling for help.

Mark Miller woke up to the sound, he thought it was his wife. You can see him race out of his home.

“She was obviously in trouble and we ran out, yeah,” Miller said. “There was a dog attacking her dog.”

Miller says the dog, a pit bull, had a hold of Emes’ Cocker Spaniel, Gus.

“Whole time had it, just, locked on,” Miller said. “Looked like, almost like, on its cheek.”

Miller started punching the pit bull, with no effect.

“Then I just grabbed its legs and was kind of, pulling it, tugging it, and trying to, trying to shock it out of its grip,” Miller said. “And it didn’t want to let go.”

At one point, you see Miller pull so hard, the force flings both dogs around toward the sidewalk.

“It was like a tug of war, the woman had her dog, and I had the big dog and he had the little dog, and we’re all tugging at each other,” Miller said.

The pit bull is currently at the SPCA, employees say the dog is chipped and was hungry when it arrived.

Becky Holly with Fresno Bully Rescue says, every dog is different, even in each breed, so it’s hard to know why a dog would attack.

Holly says the owner, if the dog has one, should be held accountable.

“Cited for the dog running at large, the dog attacking, all of that,” Holly said. “That’s why it’s important to keep them confined, you’re supposed to.

“I mean, we have leash laws for a reason.”

Miller is thankful help arrived, in the form of deputy Jeff Stricker with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department.

Stricker was on his way to work, seen in the video in a blue shirt.

“I reached out and grabbed the dog at the back of the neck and started twisting, and initially, it wouldn’t get off,” Stricker said. “Eventually, it let go.”

Stricker believes, he was meant to be there at that moment.

“Everything happens for a reason, right place at the right time,” Stricker said.

We’ve also been in contact with Emes, she says Gus is recovering at home, is medicated and had to have drains and sutures put into his throat.

Emes hopes, they both recovery physically and emotionally.

Reporting in Fresno, Megan Rupe.