DOG-owner Sylvia Jenkins says the vet who patched up her near-dead pet believes it was attacked with a machette.
And she wants to warn other pet owners the culprit may be somebody with a grudge after she was called home from her night shift to find young German Shepherd Murphy literally bleeding to death on their floor.
"We called the vet out immediately. We were sure he was dying," said Mrs Jenkins.
"His face was cut wide open and his bottom jaw was literally hanging off – he has lost all his bottom teeth."
She said Murphy had made his own way back to their Cinderford home, but had lost a huge amount of blood – they used up all their towels and tea towels trying to stem it and their carpets had been ruined completely.
"When the vet came he said injuries like that could no be a car – it was done deliberately with a very sharp instrument like a big knife, possibly a machette," she said.
She believes her teenage son might have inadvertantly left the garden gate open, but although Murphy is a large strong dog he would never hurt a fly.
"He has never got out before," she said. "He wouldn't hurt a fly. He's as soft as a brush. He had an identity badge on but that has been removed by whoever did this."
She said car drivers were duty-bound to report accidents involving dogs but she shared the same opinion with the vet that her pet, adored by her husband Andrew and the rest of the family, had been slashed in a deliberate attack.
"I wouldn't like to think of anyone else going through this," she said. "If it is someone with a grudge they have to be stopped."