Shocking footage shows pit bull savagely attacking little girl as passers-by rush to her aid – while its owner tells them to leave his dog alone.

A young girl was horrifically set upon by a rampaging pit bull in New York on Sunday night – escaping with her life when passers-by rushed to help.

The brutal attack happened at 166th street and Webster Avenue in the Bronx and unfolded in a flash as the dog darted across the street and pounced on the girl who was with her mother.

Surveillance footage of the attack shows the girl’s desperate mother try and keep hold of her daughter as the ferocious dog tries to rip her from her grasp.

Only the swift intervention of the public saved the girl from certain death and the men who ran to her aid had to punch the dog repeatedly to get it to let go.

Amazingly, the dog’s owner rushes over to save his dog from the crowd, ordering them to leave his pet alone as he puts the dog back onto a leash.

While the members of the public who have rushed over to help phone 911, the little girl is tended to by her mother.

One of the good Samaritans who rushed into action, Andrew Candeler said that he didn’t think twice about his own safety as he rushed to help the little girl.

‘The first thing that went through my mind was that I had to help her,’ said Candeler to NBC New York.

‘The girl was crying, she was going crazy.

‘This dog needs to be controlled, because it is a big dog and you never know when the dog is going to attack.’

The girl was taken to a local hospital and treated for minor injuries, including small puncture wounds to her right arm and right leg. She was treated and released.

The dog’s owner, who lives nearby to where the girl was attacked, stayed on the scene, police said.

He was given a summons for having his dog off the leash, but the dog was not taken away.