Calgary police say a police dog who chased a 12-year-old boy into his home and attacked him on the kitchen floor likely won’t be euthanized.

Ali Hassan says he was playing outside with his siblings on Wednesday evening when he saw the unleashed dog, which lives in the neighbourhood with a police handler, chasing after him.

“When I was running, I realized he was running for me, so I just started running for my life,” Ali told CTV Calgary on Friday.

The dog chased the boy through his garage and into the kitchen, where it began biting the boy on the back of his thigh.

“I tried to drag myself away from him and hit him in the face so he’d stop biting, but I couldn’t,” Ali said.

The dog finally let go after Ali’s father punched the animal in the stomach several times. The police handler who lives with the dog then ran into the home and took it away.

Ali was transported to hospital and treated for injuries to his leg.

The boy’s family is calling for police to consider euthanizing the service animal. But CPS Chief Constable Roger Chaffin says that, while an internal investigation is underway, the animal likely won’t be put down.

While police investigate, the dog has been moved to a quarantined kennel far from the residential Aspen Hills neighbourhood.

Still, Ali says he struggles with lingering memories of the attack.

“Even though I know they removed him to a high-security kennel on the other side of the city, so I know it’s safe, but at night sometimes I just remember such a terrifying event,” he said.

Police say the dog, a Belgian Malinois named Marco, has worked for the force for about a year.

A neighbour who lives beside the police handler and saw the animal chase the boy said she had never before seen the animal loose.

“It has always been in to the kennel, in to the truck and off to work, and it’s never really been exposed to the street at all,” Rhiannon Iuliani said.

The victim’s father, Mustafa Hassan, says the sudden attack “broke the safety of the neighbourhood” and hopes police consider putting the dog down as a result of their investigation.

Police say it’s possible that the dog could be transferred to another agency.

With a report from CTV Calgary