The owner of a mixed breed pit bull is under police orders to prevent the animal from running loose after it attacked a small dog Monday.

Jane Smith was walking her 18-month-old Lhasa apsa-poodle mix breed dog, Penelope "Penny," at about 4:30 p.m. near Waters Landing Elementary School in Germantown, when she saw a large gray and white dog bolt across the street and straight toward Penny.

"Penny didn't even see it coming," she said. "It was clear that dog was on a mission and going for anything that was moving."

As Smith screamed, the dog locked its jaws around Penny's neck and picked her up and threw her to the ground repeatedly, Smith said.

"She was very submissive," she said. "I think if she had tried to fight back, she would have been ripped to shreds."

Smith held onto Penny's leash but was afraid if she hit the pit bull it would turn and attack her.

After several minutes, a painter working at a house near Waters Landing and Pickering drives heard Smith's screams. He came over, picked up the attacking dog and carried it away, she said.

Penny lay on the ground bleeding and motionless. Smith thinks the thick fur around her neck may have saved her life.

Smith used her cell phone to call 911. Three witnesses helped police identify the house where the dog was taken, she said.

A woman came out when she saw a police officer and identified herself as the owner of the house, said Capt. Michael Wahl, director of the Montgomery County Police Animal Services Division. The woman told the officer she had instructed two painters working at her house not to leave the fence open. When they opened the fence to carry a ladder, the dog ran out.

The officer issued the woman a citation for having an unlicensed dog, Wahl said. The citation carries a $100 fine. Next week police will issue additional citations he said — one for allowing an animal to engage in unwanted contact, which carries a $500 fine, and one for allowing an animal to be at large, which carries a $100 fine, he said.

"Our understanding is, she was away from home when it happened and contractors left a gate open," Wahl said.

Police may also declare the dog potentially dangerous, he said. For a first offense, a dog declared potentially dangerous is only permitted off the owner's property on a leash held by someone at least 18 years old, Wahl said. It must be muzzled when off the property. A second offense would probably result in an order to euthanize the dog.

Penny had surgery Monday and is home recovering from puncture wounds. The owner of the pit bull told police she will pay the veterinary bills.

"[Penny] is extremely frightened and hides whenever she can find a hiding place," Smith said.

Smith is less concerned with medical bill and more concerned for dogs and children in the neighborhood.

"School had only let out an hour prior to the attack," she said. "Pregnant moms and new moms are out walking dogs."

Smith would like to arrange a community dialogue to talk about ways to prevent and protect against dog attacks.

"I want to alert the community," she said.

Wahl said officers are pursuing several leads in trying to find a pit bull mixed breed that fatally attacked a miniature pinscher in the Cinnamon Woods neighborhood in mid-February.

ssingerbart@gazette.net