A Parksville couple want to warn the community after they say their small dog lost its life after being attacked by a larger canine at the Parksville beach boardwalk.

Robert Morgan and his partner recently moved to the area from the Lower Mainland and they took their dogs down to the boardwalk at Parksville Beach on Dec. 7.

Without warning, said Morgan, their dog, a papillon named Molly, was attacked by a mastiff.

鈥淚t came over, sunk its jaws into its back and crushed its ribs and punctured its spleen," Morgan said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even think, I just dove down and just tried to get these jaws off.鈥�

The incident happened quickly, he added. He had turned his gaze toward the ocean for just a brief moment and when he looked back the other dog had seized Molly around her back and abdomen.

"The attack was completely silent," Morgan wrote in a statement he sent to the City of Parksville, also provided to the PQB News. "While very close to both dogs' faces I saw how deep the mastiff's teeth had sunk in and how my dog looked at me in fear." 

A bystander called an emergency veterinarian in Nanaimo. By the time Morgan reached the vet, he was covered in blood, and so was much of the interior of his vehicle.

Morgan was told by the vet that a surgical option would be "exploratory" and would cost approximately $15,000, with further surgeries in the neighbourhood of $10,000 鈥� if she survived.

After a discussion with the vet, he decided euthanizing was the only option to avoid further pain and prolonged suffering. The owner of the other dog paid for the nearly $1,500 vet bill, which included X-rays, pain control, euthanization and cremation.

The report indicated the larger dog was off-leash at the time of the attack.

Morgan injured his knee and suffered a puncture wound in one finger from trying to free Molly from the larger dog's bite.

Const. Tim Kenning confirmed the Oceanside RCMP were notified about the incident and it was referred to Parksville Bylaw Compliance and 台湾MM裸聊室 Animal Control Services.

The incident is currently under investigation by the city's bylaw compliance department, as 台湾MM裸聊室 Animal Control Services does not have jurisdiction within the city, according to Deb Tardiff, manager of communications for the city.

Morgan wants to create wider awareness and let the public know what happened. He said he is concerned another dog, or even a child, could be attacked by an off-leash dog.

鈥淚 felt like I had a false sense of security on that boardwalk, on that public beach," Morgan said. "They had all kinds of signage about dogs and controlling your dogs. I just thought people should probably know that a dog got killed there.鈥�