A two-month-old baby was mauled to death by a pet pit bull that reportedly mistook her for a toy.

Kanyaphat Sali was sleeping in her pram when the two-year-old hell hound named Chao Big snatched her away in Uthai Thani, Thailand.

Panicked relatives repeatedly struck the beast in a desperate attempt to free the infant, but it held onto her head, dragging her toward a drainage ditch as she screamed.

Homeowner Lek managed to chase away the animal before scooping up the heavily injured baby in her arms. The child was rushed to Nong Chang Hospital, where she was later declared dead.

Police rushed to the scene on Tuesday, September 16, after reports of the savage attack. But upon seeing the killer dog still prowling nearby, the terrified officers stayed in their car until Lek confined it in a cage.

On the property, the cops discovered a gruesome 20ft trail of blood leading to the ditch, along with Kanyaphat's bloodstained pram and toys.

Lek told investigators that she had called Kanyaphat's grandfather Dusit Sali and her mother Kantima Anantarak, 35, to collect junk from her home.

She said: 'While they were sifting through the scrap, I went outside and Big followed me. It approached and sniffed the baby. After that, we went back inside the house but I didn't know Big would return to the pram.

'I suddenly heard the child's cries so I ran outside and chased Big to make him release her. When it did, I quickly carried her into my car and drove her to the hospital where she died. Big had never attacked anyone before. It must have thought she was a toy.'

The girl's mother Kantima said she and her daughter were initially inside a car, but she went outside to fix a flat tyre.

She said: 'When we went out, the dog wasn't there. It had already followed the owner into the house, so I felt it was safe to go outside. But later, the homeowner and the dog walked over to the pram. I saw the dog sniffing my daughter but the homeowner assured me it wouldn't bite.

'She kept trying to push the dog away but the dog suddenly snapped at her before biting my daughter on the head and snatching her away. It was so shocking because it happened so fast. The owner hit the dog's neck and slapped it until it released my baby, but it was already too late.'

The mother added that Lek has promised to shoulder the funeral costs, but there were no other discussions of compensation.

Police Colonel Phetkamphaeng Yooyod, superintendent of the Khao Bang Kraek Police Station, said legal proceedings would follow.

He said: 'We have questioned the dog's owner and the mother of the deceased child. We will question eyewitnesses who were at the scene to determine the legal course of action. At this time, it is not yet clear who is at fault or responsible.'

Local media reported Big remains under Lek's care pending the results of the investigation.

Thailand is notoriously unregulated over pets and there are no laws preventing people from keeping dangerous dogs. Despite numerous fatal pit bull attacks reported in the news, stubborn locals continue to keep the rabid animals as companions.