A Surrey bylaw officer is in hospital with serious injuries after she was attacked by a husky dog while out on the job.

According to Jas Rehal​, bylaws manager with the city of Surrey, the officer, who specializes in animal control, responded to a call about a dog at large in the Cloverdale area on Tuesday afternoon.

When she found the dog in a fenced backyard area, it attacked her, and she suffered severe bites to her arm and hand, said Rehal.

"It was a vicious attack, he attacked her, knocked her down," he said.

The owners of the property called 9-1-1 and police and fire officers responded. The woman was taken to hospital and underwent surgery.

Rehal said the attack was "quite vicious," and that the dog, which was voluntarily surrendered by its owners, had no history of aggressive behaviour. It has now been put down.

"We are dealing with these calls from the public, dealing with aggressive dogs and things like that, so there is an element of risk to it — but attacks like this are very, very rare. I can't recall an attack like this on one of our officers," he said.

Rehal said a full assessment of the incident will be conducted.