A Winnipeg man is warning dog owners to keep watch on their four-legged loved ones after his dog was stabbed in his gated backyard Friday night.

"At first I wasn't sure if he had cut his nose on a nail or a piece of the fence or something," said Mark Eskow, who came home late Friday night to find his dog Cooter — a seven-year-old mastiff — dripping with blood.

Cooter is expected to have stitches for a while. (Travis Golby/CBC) Eskow rushed Cooter to the vet and soon learned what had happened when he reviewed surveillance cameras he has set up around his home. The video captured the disturbing attack around 9:15 p.m. and shows a group of young people going through his North End back lane when one of them stops.

CBC News cannot publish photos of the alleged suspect because he may be a minor, and it's against the law to reveal a youth's identity under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The suspect has a backpack and stops to pull out a mask and gloves. He puts them on, pulls out a knife and stabs Cooter through Eskow's backyard fence and then takes off. Eskow estimates the knife was almost a foot long.

"Your stomach drops, you know, cruelty to animals — it's awful."

The stabbing left Cooter badly wounded. The puncture to his nostril went all the way through to his teeth. He had to have surgery and stay overnight at the vet and is recovering with stitches. The attack left Eskow with a vet bill of more than $1,000.

When Eskow got back home about two hours after the attack, Cooter had dripped so much blood his backyard pavement was stained. Eskow hopes by coming forward, he'll encourage other dog owners to keep a closer eye on their four-legged loved ones.

Mark Eskow is thankful Cooter wasn't stabbed somewhere more serious. (Travis Golby/CBC) "It can happen anywhere. It doesn't have to happen in a bad part of the city."

His dog is friendly and didn't show any signs of aggression on Sunday — just lots of love.

Eskow thinks Cooter may have barked at the suspects going by his back lane. "He risked his life to protect his yard just like any dog would," he said.

Eskow wants the suspect to be caught and charged with animal cruelty. (Travis Golby/CBC) Eskow wants the suspect to be caught and charged with animal cruelty and is hoping because his security cameras captured a clear image of the suspect, the perpetrator will be caught. "I just hope something's done that another dog doesn't get hurt or who knows what."

The Friday night stabbing is the latest in a string of random, unprovoked attacks that have happened in Winnipeg in recent weeks but is the first on an animal Winnipeg police have released on.

Latest in string of stabbings

The latest happened on Friday night when police say a 20-year-old man stabbed a stranger several times for no apparent reason in Fort Garry. The suspect stabbed an 18-year-old man who was helping unload a vehicle with his family, including his seven-year-old niece in the 1800-block of Pembina Highway around 11:30 p.m.

​A person was also stabbed in a separate incident on Bannerman Avenue Friday morning.

Those incidents come on the heels of a gruesome attack in Central Park on Aug. 18 that left a man with life-altering injuries after he was repeatedly stabbed in a brutal robbery. A rash of stabbings that week left 11 people injured in eight incidents over the course of just five days, police said.

Major crimes investigators are investigating and anyone with information about the dog being stabbed to call investigators at 204-986-6219 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).