INDIANAPOLIS -- An off-duty police officer on Thursday evening shot a pit bull suspected of injuring a 7-year-old girl on the city's northeast side, authorities said.

The girl was taken to Riley Hospital for Children after a dog that her mother was temporarily caring for attacked the child in a neighborhood near 42nd Street and German Church Road shortly before 7 p.m., police said.

The child underwent surgery to repair extensive damage to an arm and was listed in fair condition Friday, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

The officer shot the dog three times. The animal was later euthanized, according to Media Wilson, spokeswoman for the city's animal care and control division.

The girl's mother, who was watching the dog for her boyfriend, had just taken the animal outside when it attacked the child, officials said.

Witnesses told police that the dog, which might have been a pit bull mix, appeared to be trying to drag the girl into a nearby wooded area.

"I couldn't believe that this girl was really about to get eaten by this pit bull," said Thomas Luckett. "(There was) blood all over its mouth and everything -- just tearing her apart."

Someone banged on the door of Luckett's house to ask him for help, 6News' Cheryl Jackson reported.

"The dog was just ripping up the girl's arm -- bone, meat just hanging out everywhere, marks all over her," Luckett said.

According to Luckett, the girl was at the center of a tug-of-war between the dog and the girl's mother.

"The girl was laying on the ground screaming with her mom pulling on her legs, trying to pull her away," Luckett said.