This is the first picture of the adorable Chihuahua mauled to death yesterday by an XL Bully.
Little Gizmo was just metres from his home when the ‘out of control’ beast escaped from a nearby property and locked his jaws around him, crushing his skull in the process.
The nine-year-old had been returning from a morning walk around the block in Charles Street, Skellow, Doncaster, with the mother of his owner Alyssia Bristow when he was attacked.
Heartbroken Alyssia, 18, exclusively told how her family had been left devastated by Gizmo’s death just days before Christmas.
She said she was screaming and chasing the hound down the street who had the little pooch dangling from his mouth.
Alyssia said she managed to free her beloved pet from the crazed mutt’s jaws and then carried his limp body down the road before rushing to a nearby vets.
Although they hoped Gizmo would survive, the family were given the devastating news he had suffered a brain injury leaving them with no choice but to make the heartbreaking decision to have him put down.
Chihuahua Gizmo, 9, who was mauled to death by an XL Bully just metres from his home in Charles Street, Skellow, Doncaster
The ‘out of control’ XL Bully had little Gizmo locked in his jaws and ran down the street with the little pooch dangling from its mouth
Alyssia was inside her home with her 15-year-old brother when she heard her mother screaming at around 10.20am yesterday.
She described the horrifying moment she ran outside and saw an XL Bully with Gizmo in its mouth.
‘It was absolutely traumatising,’ she told .
‘He wasn’t shaking him about – I think he had already shook him. I got to the end of the driveway and ran down the street [after the XL Bully] and at the end of the street we were all fighting and trying to get Gizmo out of his mouth.
‘The amount of screaming coming from me and my mum… and then we managed to get him out of his mouth and I just ran up the street begging for someone to take him to the vets.’
Gizmo was rushed to a vets about five to ten minutes away and Lissia initially thought he might pull through.
But then the family were given the earth-shattering news that Gizmo had suffered a severe brain injury and his skull had been crushed.
‘Gizmo could hear us but he couldn’t move or blink or anything,’ Alyssia added.
‘There was no other choice and the humane thing to do was to have him put down.’
Gizmo was one of five family pet dogs, with another – Beastie – now left traumatised after he too was bitten by the XL Bully.
Alyssia said her sibling has been hit hardest by Gizmo’s death with the two sharing a special bond.
‘He was our first ever Chihuahua and we got him when he was a puppy,’ she said.
‘He was an amazing dog. He was so kind and gave you hugs. My 15-year-old brother and Gizmo were best friends and it has absolutely destroyed him more than anything.
‘He was just such an amazing dog and so lovely.’
Armed officers were called and seized the XL Bully, which was believed to have escaped from a nearby property just a few doors away from the Bristows’ family home.
(Pictured: Stock image of an American XL Bully) The mutt was seized by armed officers. A 22-year-old man and 21-year-old woman who were arrested have since been released on bail
A 22-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman who were arrested on suspicion of owning a dog dangerously out of control have since been released on bail.
has contacted South Yorkshire Police to ask whether the XL Bully has been destroyed.
The attack came just days before the breed is added to the list of banned dogs in England and Wales.
The legislation comes into force on December 31. XL Bully owners will have to apply to have their pets exempt from the crackdown – which means they would have to pay £92.40 for a certificate and the dog would need to be microchipped and neutered, among other rules.