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TUCSON - Lenard Araiza lives in a quiet neighborhood just off Grande Street and Speedway Boulevard.

Saturday morning he woke up to find his beloved dog Gypsy brutally attacked in his yard sometime during the night.

"I was coming back from the mailbox and I went to pet the dogs and I noticed that she had been cut from shoulder to shoulder," he said. "Someone had grabbed her harness from over the fence and had just lacerated her."

Araiza rushed Gypsy to St. Mary's Animal clinic seeking treatment for the dog's massive wound.

Dr. Joshua Fender immediately assessed the wound.

"The dog had a cut that extended armpit to armpit over her entire back", he said. "The entire cut probably measured about 14inches, full thickness, right down to the muscle."

Dr. Fender says he stopped counting stitches after 50. The doctor believes a razor or scalpel-type instrument was used to cut the 50 pound boxer/chow mix, presenting clear evidence someone tried to kill or severely wound Gypsy.

According to Samantha Esquivel, of the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, in most of these types of cases the person who harms the animal is really trying send a message to the owner.

"80 percent of the time when an animal is hurt or attacked by a human, it is generally because of their owner", she said. "A lot of the time these acts of aggression aren't necessarily because someone is trying to harm the animal they are more so trying to get back at their owner."

Lenard Araiza says he knows all of his neighbors and has no idea who would want to harm him or his dog.

Dr. Fender says he expects Gypsy to make a full recovery and mentioned that even after all she had been through Gypsy never stopped wagging her tail.

If you have any information regarding this incident please contact the Humane Society's Animal Cruelty Task Force at 547-0260 or 88-crime.