A local man says his holidays were ruined after a neighbor's dog jumped their fence and killed his 3 year old chihuahua. It's a tough case here, the owner of the Chihuahua feels like his best friend was killed. The owner of the other dog wasn't even cited and Animal Control tells me their hands are tied.

"She literally was my best friend," says Grant Harding, the owner of the Chihuahua.

Now she's just a memory, just before Christmas Grand Harding says he let his Chihuahua Gidget outside.

"I heard her yelping and jumped up and ran to the window and looked out and there was this black and gray pit bull had my Gidget in her mouth and was violently thrashing her around," says Harding. "They were just right there by the end of that 3rd garbage can and I just leaped out and hit this garbage can and just as I got to it, that pit bull dropped Gidget and she ran in between here and there wasn't as much snow at the time. You can still see that there's still blood here."

Harding took Gidget to the vet, but there was nothing they could do to save her. He tells me he didn't even know there was a dog in the neighbor's yard and that his neighbor knew her dog might jump the fence.

"When she moved into that house that she knew that fence was too short," Harding says.

Its been about a week since the incident and Gidget's toys and bowls are still in the house, Harding can't find the motivation to throw them out. But he does tell me he thinks there's a problem with the animal control system.

"The statutes that we have concerning vicious dogs are incredibly inept," says Harding.

The animal control office is closed for the holiday, but I did reach the officer handling the case on the phone, he says he's sorry the case turned out this way, but there is no law that says a dog has to be quarantined when it bites another animal, they only have to be quarantined when they bite a human. And unless they see the pit bull acting viciously there's nothing they can do. Also, there is no other vicious behavior on record for this pit bull. As for the owner of the Chihuahua, he wants to start a coalition against vicious dogs.

To contact Grant Harding email him at viciousdog@cableone.net