DOG owners have been put on notice after a record fine was imposed on a Sydney man whose pit bull mauled and killed another dog.

Nick Raptis, 34, of Beverly Park, was fined $20, 223 and disqualified from owning a dog for three years after his American pit bull terrier Hannibal attacked a Maltese-silky cross terrier being walked by its owner at Carss Park, in Sydney's south, in April last year.

Happier times ... Jennifer Aldridge and her pet dog Honey at Cronulla Beach six weeks before the dog was mauled and killed.

Jennifer Aldridge, 22, had been walking her dog Honey when the pit bull charged, dragging it out of its collar and onto a road, where the pit bull began eating Honey.

The woman's husband, Murray, tried to stop the attack by beating the dog with a shovel, but had to stop when it bared its teeth at him.