When the large dog raced around her legs, trapping a fleeing Spidey and snaring the small creature in its jaw, Suzanne Byron thought her hound was about to be killed right in front of her.
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The dog, which Ms Byron thought was a banned pit bull, sunk its canines into the soft muscle about Spidey's midriff, and shook the miniature pinscher.
"He's only a tiny little thing, head the size of a tennis ball," she said.
Suzanne screamed at the dog's owner as it pinned her tiny dog to the sand.
"I was trying to pull him off. If I had got in the way he would have mauled me too."
The owner wrapped a hand around his dog's collar, and eventually succeeded in ripping him away.
A woman who ran to help, picked up the bloodied and quivering Spidey. Ms Byron stood on the sands of Mordialloc's dog beach, shocked. And the owner of the other dog strolled off toward his car, tugging the dog behind him.
He never said a word to her, Ms Byron said. It wasn't until she chased him to his car and confronted him that he told her his dog "probably thought it was a cat". He never apologised.
Returning to her dog, she saw the deep puncture wounds – maybe an inch deep from top and bottom. Spidey was rushed to the vet.
There, two surgeons worked for six hours to save him. Ms Byron visited him at 6.30 Monday afternoon – he yipped when he heard the sound of her voice, she says.
He's now safely back home with Ms Byron, head in a cone to stop him tugging at his stitches.
Ms Byron believes the aggressive dog was a pit bull. Local council rangers don't agree – using her photos, they say it's more likely a English Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
The disagreement points to one of the central criticisms of Victoria's dangerous dog laws: the difficulty of accurately identifying a dog's breed.
Ms Byron is calling for Mordialloc council to put up notices banning aggressive dogs from the off-leash beach area. She also wants to see her council crack down on local pit bull owners.
"Responsible owners will always muzzle an aggressive dog, irrespective of its size or breed."
She reported the man and his dog to the police, who have filed a formal report, and to her local council.
Council says its staff and police believe they have located the man involved.
"Owners of dogs causing non-serious injuries could face fines of up to $382. Serious attacks could face prosecution through the Magistrates Court with a maximum fine of $6067," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
