Being "scared to death" is usually just a hyperbolic phrase. But for one tiny dog in Long Island, NY, it became a horrifying reality.

In March, Patty Meisoll was walking her 10-pound Chihuahua, Grover. When she and Grover walked past a pair of fenced-in Rottweilers, all hell broke loose.

"Suddenly, the fence literally bowed over, like a wave -- and the dogs came with it," Meisoll told The New York Post.

"I couldn't see him, but I could hear him -- he was screaming. I tried pulling one of the dogs off but they wouldn't move. They started coming at me. I started screaming for help," she added.

Just 90 minutes later, Grover died. Cause of death, the veterinarian said, was a heart attack. He was literally "scared to death:"

Meisoll has now filed a lawsuit against the attacking dogs' owners.