A four-year-old Chihuahua came to the rescue of an eight-year-old Chilliwack girl after a neighbour's pit bull attacked her and began biting her face.

Jenna Desrochers was outside in a backyard last Tuesday at around 5 p.m. PT when the neighbour's pit bull broke free from its enclosure and went after her.

Soon after, her grandmother's Chihuahua came to the rescue.

Anne Marie Desrochers, Jenna's grandmother, says the pit bull knocked Jenna down and began biting her face. Honey, a four-year-old Chihuahua, then came to the rescue by drawing the attacking dog away.

"The pit bull took Jenna down at the knees, that's what the owner had told me, and basically went for her face."

"Then, the Chihuahua was around...The pit bull ran for the Chihuaua. She was distracted enough," Desrochers said.

Jenna Desrochers, 8, is recovering after a pit bull attacked her. Honey, a four-year-old Chihuahua, distracted the pit bull and drew it away from the girl. (Courtesy Chilliwack Times)

The owner then managed to grab a hold of the pit bull's collar, and brought the dog inside.

Jenna was badly hurt and needed hours of surgery and hundreds of stitches, but her grandmother says it could have been much worse.

After a discussion between the families, the neighbour agreed that the pit bull should be put down.