A helpless dog with disturbing injuries was rescued after being buried alive in a beach by her owner, who was armed with a machete.

Animal rescuers in Hawaii were called last week after the bald, sunburned dog covered in sores was entombed in the sand on West Oahu beach.

“Someone had just buried her and they had a machete so who knows what was next,” said PAWS of Hawaii, which has named the dog Leialoha, meaning “beloved child.”

The animal rescue group said its “entire team rushed out to pick her up” on July 9 and found Leialoha with fresh knife cuts to her paws.

“The man who buried her, we were led to believe, had started to cut her,” PAWS executive director Ku’ulei Durand told KITV.

The rescued pup was in terrible condition.

“This precious girl is incredibly swollen, sunburned and missing 90% of her fur,” PAWS said.

The group believes that was why Leialoha’s owner planned to kill her.

“He felt he was ending her suffering by trying to end her life, instead of getting her the help she needed,” Durand told KITV. “Her skin, if you were able to smell her, is rancid because she has so many open sores that are infected.”

PAWS said Leialoha was in such bad shape that when she had her first bath, she was “bleeding from every inch of her body.”

Durand called her a “tough girl, so strong and amazing.”

“It is so wonderful to see dogs come out of their shell, even with just a day of love,” she said.

Leialoha’s story appears set for a happy ending, however: She has been taken in by a foster mom named Amanda.

“My heart was broken and I knew she needed us to foster her,” Amanda said of seeing the news of Leialoha’s rescue. “She has a long way to go, but the worst is over. Say aloha to Leia!”

PAWS did not say what happened to the dog’s owner or if police were called.