A pit bull who suffered a violent beating last week in Mission Hills is on the road to recovery, but neighbors and animal control officials are asking for the public’s help in finding the person responsible for the attack.

Joaquin Espinoza was alerted to the injured dog on Friday evening after his neighbor, Joe Rodriguez, said he saw a man beat the dog with an object that looked like a baseball bat then flee the scene in a white Toyota Tundra.

The dog was tied to a pole with a red rope in front of a home on Chatsworth Drive and Stanwin Avenue, Rodriguez said.

The dog was visibly beaten and looked close to death, according to Espinoza.

“He was just laying there not moving, I could see the hurt on face and his leg,” Espinoza told KTLA.

The two neighbors called Los Angeles Animal Services and waited with the injured dog until help arrived.

LA Animal Services told KTLA the pit bull is recovering, and a criminal investigation was underway.

Anyone with information about this incident was asked to call the East Valley Animal Shelter and ask for the animal control officer in charge at 818-756-9323.

KTLA’s Dottie Evans contributed to this story.