A $6,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for hanging and torturing a dog to death, then sending the animal's ear by mail from Chattanooga to the Virginia office of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA officials said in a statement issued Wednesday that the organization is putting up $5,000 with another $1,000 added by the Humane Society of Chattanooga.

The graphic image PETA received, which the Times Free Press has chosen not to publish, shows a light reddish-brown, medium-sized male dog with a white streak on his chest strung up by the neck and hind legs between two pine trees. The PETA photo also shows the dog's severed ear.

"It should send chills down anyone's spine to imagine someone out there hanging, killin and cutting body parts from a dog who could only have been terrified — and then bragging about it to an animal protection charity," PETA vice president Colleen O'Brien said.

"The whole community is at risk if a violent person who acts out in this way is not found and held responsible, and PETA urges anyone with information about this case to come forward," O'Brien said.

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call PETA at 757-962-8328.