A PRECIOUS pet was brutally attacked by a shark off the coast of Nova Scotia on Thursday.

A duck hunter’s dog was the victim of the shocking attack, making her way back on land before dying from “grievous” injuries.

Pepper’s owner, who has remained anonymous, said that they had never heard of a shark attacking a working hunting dog.

He has had years of experience breeding and training Chesapeake Bay retrievers to fetch the birds, according to a report by the National Post.

The hunter had shot a duck, and Pepper lept off the boat to retrieve the animal as she was taught.

“I have been on the ocean hunting sea ducks for years, and I am familiar with many other local hunters that do the same,” the hunter said in a written statement to SaltWire.

“When the ocean is calm and the ducks fall near the boat it is common practice to send a dog into the ocean to retrieve the waterfowl. This is what these dogs are bred and trained for.”

The hunter explained that the creature “erupted” from the water underneath Pepper, pushing her into the air before pulling her under the surface.

He estimated that the terrifying predator was around 2.4 meters in length, probably a juvenile great white shark.

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“It happened so quickly and was so shocking that even though I was looking right at her when it happened, I cannot say for certain what type of shark it was,” the hunter added.

The dog managed to swim back to the boat, but she had suffered terrible wounds.

“Pepper resurfaced and struggled towards the boat where I was able to haul her to safety,” he said.

She passed away shortly after the gruesome attack.

While this sort of attack is highly unusual, sharks have previously attacked dogs in the oceans along Atlantic Canada.

Art Gaetan of Atlantic Shark Expeditions told SaltWire that attacks are more common with deer than dogs.

He said that sharks do not typically eat other animals, but their prey tends to die of blood loss.

“They don’t like the taste,” he said. “They’re not as vicious as you think they are.”

He believes Peppers was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Pepper’s owner wanted to share the story to warn the public.