DOGFIGHT LOSER SLASHED; KNIFE, RAZOR CUTS MAY HAVE BEEN PENALTY FOR GENTLENESS.

Byline: Amy Collins and Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writers

Animal officials were searching Wednesday for the person who severely slashed a pit bull, possibly for losing a fight set up by the owners.

The dog was found wandering the streets of Sylmar with dog bites on his face and five to six deep cuts, made with a sharp knife, on his legs and back, said Jeffrey Prang, the spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation. The dog also was slashed with a razor blade, authorities said.

``It's pretty horrific,'' Prang said.

The dog apparently was slashed several days before a resident found him Tuesday in the 13000 block of Hubbard Street, officials said. The animal was brought to a veterinarian and then to the animal shelter, Prang said.

``It appears to be a dog that is bred for fighting,'' Prang said. ``Sometimes if dogs lose the fight they are killed . . . by their owners.''

Dogfighting is ``drug-related, gang-related, gambling-related,'' Prang said.

Tia Torres, who owns Villalobos, an Agua Dulce-based pit bull rescue operation, said the white, 50-pound dog is expected to survive despite facial swelling from dog bites and cuts on most of its body from a knife and a razor blade.

``He's hanging in there. His little tail was thumping,'' said Torres, who added that the dog appears good-natured.

``This was his reward for not winning. . . . He was hacked up every which way on his body,'' she said, adding that she will name him Lucky O'Reily. ``He's lucky he lost because he's going to get a second chance to live.''

Torres estimates hundreds of pit bulls are injured or killed annually in organized fights throughout Los Angeles County. Incidents are increasing and most are going unreported, she said.

The city must care for more dogfight victims than the public realizes, Prang said. ``It's a fairly regular thing,'' he said.

With the city's animal shelters operating at about 150 percent of capacity, the fighting dogs add to the strain on the system.

Torres said that about 90 percent of the dogfights are between animals owned by teen-age boys who view them as symbols of power and status and set them against each other on the street with bets of $20 to $50 on which will win.

``They're not planned. They just happen very spontaneously,'' Torres said.

Authorities are seeking information about the owners of the dog and about who cut the animal. Tipsters may call the West Valley Animal Shelter at [phone].

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Photo

PHOTO A pit bull is recovering in a shelter after being slashed, possibly for losing a fight.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News