Police say a man was killed by his own dog early Friday morning in Longwood.

The NYPD says officers responded to Simpson Street by Home Street and found the dog biting the 41-year-old man's throat. Police shot the dog and confirmed the dog died at the scene.

The 41-year-old man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Friend of the victim Debra Graham told News 12 she called 911 after she saw the dog biting her friend's neck and entire body inside of his apartment. She said the dog may have got out somehow and started to bite the owner.

"I said maybe the dog wants to go out the cage and go for a walk, and he said no he's fine, and I don't know how the dog got out the cage, but he did and he started biting him," said Graham. "It barked all the time, and you can tell its not trained, and you could tell it was malnourished because you could see the ribs on the dog."

Graham claims the man only had the dog for about 8 months and he had it locked in a cage because it was viscious and wouldn't stop barking.