SAN ANTONIO -- A 7-month-old Chihuahua mix puppy was recovering Tuesday evening after a Good Samaritan found the dog hanging from a tree with twine wrapped around its neck.

The dog, dubbed Chloe by officials at the Animal Defense League, had a pair of visible laceration marks on her neck and one laceration so scarred, it appears to have been inflicted early in the dog's life, according to one ADL official.

"She's alive today because of a woman who went out of her way to respond to a dog in crisis," said Ron Aaron, executive director of the Animal Defense League.

The woman who heard the dog's cries cut her down and rushed her to the ADL hospital after finding her with her neck tied in a slipknot.

"The knot moves, so when it was around her neck, the more she moved, the tighter this string would get," Aaron said.

Animal care workers said they are seeing an increase in abuse cases, but those inflicting the pain are rarely caught.

"Ordinarily, it's a young man who does this, late teens to early 20s and we know they talk to people, they brag about it," Aaron said. "The sad part is, people who abuse animals go on to abuse people."

In addition to the rope burns, Aaron said, Chloe is also suffering a bad case of mange. Once treated, though, the dog should be available for adoption in about a month.