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SAN DIEGO – A man was bitten several times on the face and arm in North Park after he was attacked by another man’s pit bull dog during an argument, police said Monday.

The attack happened shortly before 9:10 p.m. Sunday in an alley near the intersection of Kansas Street and El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego police Sgt. Joe Ruvido said.

The victim was in a verbal argument with a 27-year-old man, who threatened to release the dog, Ruvido said.

“The suspect then took the collar off the dog and the 50-year-old victim was bitten several times,” he said.

The man was taken to a hospital for treatment of the dog bites to the arm and face. Several witnesses told FOX 5 that he was missing chunks of flesh from his arm. He was treated and released and was seen back in the neighborhood on Monday.

The male pit bull terrier was taken to the San Diego Humane Society, where it will remain during the investigation. It remains to be determined if the dog was simply protecting its master or was set loose as a weapon.

“Was the dog protecting its master? Was it responding as a weapon? Or did the dog feel that it was being threatened?” asked Chief Steve MacKinnon, of the San Diego Humane Society.

The dog owner, whose name was not immediately available, was arrested on suspicion of felony assault, police said.