An Edmonton couple is warning other pet owners in their community to be careful after they say their beloved beagle “Riley” died after an attack by an off-leash pit bull.

Rocky Gibbs said that he took the 14-year-old beagle outside in his neighbourhood of Allard, located in the city’s south west, on Wednesday evening.

“As I got to the bottom of my driveway, I noticed something out of my right-hand side peripheral,” he told CTV Edmonton on Monday. “I recognized it was a grey pit bull.”

Gibbs said he immediately picked up his dog and started running back towards the house, but the pit bull chased after him and knocked him off of his feet. The pit bull then grabbed hold of Riley’s harness with its teeth, he recalled.

“I was trying to chase him and I was screaming at the top of my lungs and trying to kick the pit bull back,” Gibbs said. “I did everything in my power…”

Soon after, Gibb’s said his wife Angela Ferrari-Gibbs and a neighbour joined him in fighting off the pit bull. Eventually, the group managed to pull Riley away from the other dog.

Despite the group’s best efforts, Riley suffered two large wounds, one of them 25-centimetres long, during the attack. Gibbs said the beagle had to be euthanized as a result of its injuries.

“When you have a pet, a dog, you know at some point you’ll have to put him down, but nobody should have to do it that way,” Gibbs said, his voice cracking. “It was horrible.”

A neighbour captured a photo of the pit bull that Gibbs said has been spotted off-leash and acting aggressively in the area in the past.

Edmonton’s animal control officers are conducting an investigation and said they have located the dog believed to be responsible for the attack. They described the dog as an American Staffordshire Terrier or a pit bull cross.

The pit bull has not been seized by animal control services yet.

“We are still in very early stages. The seizure of the animal is largely dependent on the… willingness of the owner to surrender [it],” peace officer Sabrina Bergin explained.

Riley’s owners said they’re frustrated because they had filed a formal complaint about the pit bull last fall. They said they would like to see the pit bull euthanized.

“It’s not safe for any of us,” Ferrari-Gibbs said. “The city has to be more proactive. They need to hold people accountable.”

With a report from CTV Edmonton’s Nicole Weisberg