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A Vancouver woman says her dog has died and her mother is recovering after being taken to hospital following a dog attack Wednesday night.

Purvi Sharma said she and her mom were walking their Yorkshire Terrier, Hugo, near 57th Ave and Main St after 9 p.m. when a huge black dog ran out of its front yard and attacked her mom.

“Hugo tried to fight the bigger dog. And that’s when the dog just picked Hugo up and he kind of started biting him, and he tossed him around. It was horrifying to watch,” Sharma said.

Sharma said her mom sustained multiple bites to her arm in the attack, and they were helpless to get the dog off of Hugo.

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“There was just no way that we could’ve helped my dog in any way. He was just such a large dog, he was biting at my mom. Even his owner had a hard time controlling him,” Sharma said.

She said the attack unfolded so quickly, she couldn’t get a good look to determine what breed the dog might have been.

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Hearing screams outside, the dog’s owner came out and struggled with the large-breed dog, eventually managing to get him inside.

Meanwhile, a neighbour called 9-1-1 for an ambulance, and drove Sharma to the vet with Hugo. Sadly, he passed away in the car.

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Sharma said she’s seen the dog barking and trying to get out of the gated front yard before — and this time, the gate was left open. She said neighbours told her the dog is aggressive as well.

“They had mentioned that the bigger dog had tried to attack their dog before too, had tried to attack them in the past, so I think it’s just a dangerous dog.”

Sharma said she wants justice for Hugo.

READ MORE: Vicious Langley dog attack leaves woman with 85 staples in leg

“He was a really good dog, he never bit anyone, he was loved by everyone,” said Sharma. “So I do hope that we’re able to do something.”

“Get the word out that it’s not bad dogs, it’s bad owners that compel their dogs to do stuff like this.” Tweet This

This is a plea to anyone with a big dog who they know has a lot of energy. Please keep your gates locked. Please take them out on frequent walks and give them opportunities to release that energy. Please don’t let this to happen to anyone else. — Purvi Sharma (@purvisharmabcit) June 6, 2019

She said owners with large, aggressive dogs have to be vigilant to make sure their dogs work off their energy, and are properly contained so they can’t get out and hurt people or other pets.

“That could have been a young mom walking with her baby,” Sharma said. “It could have been so much worse for someone else.”

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Sharma said her mom is doing better and is out of hospital, but her arm has significant swelling — and the doctors told her she was very lucky there wasn’t a fracture.

B.C. Emergency Health Services confirmed to Global News that they did respond to reports of a dog attack near 57th and Main Wednesday night. They transported one patient to hospital with ‘significant injuries’. EHS said police were also on scene when paramedics arrived.

The City of Vancouver said in a statement they are aware of the incident.

“Animal Services staff are meeting with both parties to gather information and evidence about last night’s incident, as part of the City’s standard procedure. Next steps will be determined once the investigation is complete,” reads the statement.

Vancouver police were not immediately able to confirm they received a report of the incident.