A woman has been filmed being attacked by a pit bull on a subway carriage in New York City.
The video, posted to Facebook by UPS pre-loader Tahsyi Kyng, who claims that the dog was 'not vicious' and only attacked when it was hit first.
The footage shows the animal latching onto the foot of a 22-year-old woman dressed in a red jacket and blue jeans. Plenty of passengers come to her aid while others shout abuse at the dog's owner.
While the owner tries to pull the dog away, it's not until subway commuters yell at him to tell the dog to release that the animal lets go of its grip.
One woman yells: "Call the police."
Another passenger screamed: "Get the dog off of her."
The owner claps back to his critics, saying, 'she attacked him first', before throwing a shoe at another commuter, prompting them to claim that they could sue the dog owner for assault.
Tahsyi confirmed that to ABC7, saying the victim was unhappy when the owner brought the dog on the carriage and put it on a seat.
"She was like, 'the dog don't belong on the seat, that's an animal, people belong on the seat, put the dog on the floor', and he looked at her like, 'I'm not moving my fucking dog'," Tahsyi told the news channel.
The woman allegedly pushed the dog off the seat and that's what sparked the whole ordeal.
"He was like, 'don't touch my dog' and he started hitting. They started fighting and everybody tried to break it up. The dog latched onto her."
Tahsyi says while it seems like the woman was the one who sparked the fight, the dog should have been in a kennel or had a muzzle on it.
MTA spokesman Shams Tarek told the New York Post: "Our rules require non-service animals to be kept inside containers and not disturbing other passengers.
"What's happening in this video is disturbing and a clear violation of our rules. We flagged this video for NYPD, which is responsible for enforcing Transit rules."
Police are reportedly investigating the incident to see whether any laws were broken. The dog owner, if he's tracked down, will likely cop a $25 (£18) fine, which is the penalty for an unrestrained animal.
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Sources: ABC7, New York Post
Topics: Attack, America, Dog, News, US News, New York City, Animals, Subway