BALLARAT police were forced to use capsicum spray to subdue a large pit bull which was mauling an elderly woman’s dog on Saturday.But before the police arrived, a Ballarat man’s afternoon trip to get fish and chips turned into a rescue mission when he came across the roadside attack.Glenn Bye was driving down Chisholm Street when he spotted the large dog mauling the woman’s Scottish terrier on a nature strip.“I could see this little old lady and straight away I knew something didn’t look right,” Mr Bye said. “She ran at me screaming ‘help me help me’ – there was blood everywhere.”Mr Bye said part of the woman’s dog was inside the jaws of the larger canine, struggling to release itself from the bigger dog’s grasp.“I would say it was about 30 to 40 kilograms, it was the biggest pit bull I’ve ever seen,” he said. “I was sinking the boots into this dog, trying to get it off the other one – I’ve never seen anything like it.”Another bystander joined Mr Bye soon after and called the police to help with the dog, which didn’t have a collar.Together, the two men managed to concuss the dog using a piece of wood, before it turned on the rescuers themselves.“I had it by the scruff of the neck, then it woke up and started going for my legs,” he said.Police at the scene then sprayed the dog with capsicum spray.Ballarat police Sergeant Kieran Murnane said the dog calmed down after it was sprayed and was put in the back of a police brawler van.A City of Ballarat spokeswoman said the dog was handed to a ranger who then placed it in the city pound.Sergeant Murnane said it was lucky Mr Bye was on scene at the time and said police responded quickly to the call for help.“Police take an active approach to these sorts of things,” he said. “You never know if there’s young kids around or the elderly.”Mr Bye said he was unsure what happened to the woman’s small dog, but said he hoped it was okay.“I’ve got a mum, so I would want someone to stop and help my mum if she was in trouble like that,” he said. “It’s just irresponsible – if you’re going to have a dog like that, you have to make sure it’s locked up.”