The Durham Humane Society is offering a $2,500 reward to anyone with information on who inflicted severe abuse to a four-year-old chow.
The animal, nicknamed Phoenix by authorities with the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, is in grave condition and might not survive his injuries.
"You can see in the face the nose is completely sloughed off," OSPCA investigator Debby Houghton told CTV Toronto on Wednesday.
His nails are severely overgrown, he has an ear infection and blisters on his stomach and is severely malnourished, Hutton said.
"He weighs around 30 lbs. when he should weigh about 65 lbs.," she told CTV Toronto on Wednesday. "The dog is in horrible, horrible condition. It's a terrible case of neglect."
Houghton said Phoenix does not have fleas, meaning that he likely escaped from a home or was dumped out of a car. He had no collar, tags or embedded microchip.
Phoenix was found Sunday after he wandered into a backyard in Clarington, a residential area just east of Oshawa, Ont.
Roy Loveless saw the dog, saying it was by his garage. "That's when we saw the blood all over it," he said.
"I thought it was a coyote at first, just the way it was so mangled up," he said, adding, "I didn't know if it had rabies."
Because it didn't leave, "I thought something is wrong with this dog," he said. "Someone should pay for this. I can't believe people would do this to a dog."
As of late Wednesday afternoon, officials said Phoenix was eating a bit, but they still didn't know if he'll pull through.
With a report from CTV Toronto's John Musselman
