CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. -- Thirteen-week-old Vinny was found last week in a field in California City in bad shape. He was very skinny and both his ears had been cut completely off.

Vinny was taken to the California City Animal Shelter and on Tuesday, Zach Skow with Marley's Mutts Dog Rescue rescued the brutalized dog.

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"It definitely wasn’t done with a scalpel and he definitely wasn’t put down. It probably took two people, one to hold him down and one to clip his ears. And yeah, he was probably in a tremendous amount of pain,” said Skow.

And while some dogs do get their ears cropped professionally, Skow said it wasn’t a cropping gone bad but an act of animal cruelty that's often associated with dog fighting.

“They want them to go for the jugular, and not to latch onto an ear. They want them to latch onto a neck so they remove the ears so they don’t have anything to latch onto," said Skow.

Vinny went to the vet today for a check up and he is doing well. He has put on weight, his ears are not infected and his hearing is fine, but Skow said he hopes Vinny can help bring attention to dog fighting and the need to stop it.

“People need to know that it is happening. Dog fighting, serious dog fighting in California City, in Kern County, and it’s happening all the time and it’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger. It needs to be stopped.”

With the help of the California City animal shelter and Marley’s Mutts Dog Rescue in Tehachapi, little Vinny will get a second chance at a life that doesn’t involve the brutality he was dealt in the first few months of his life.

“A dog is what you make of it and luckily we caught him in early enough so he’s just going to end up being a doggy. And we’ll find a home for him. He’s not going to win any beauty pageants, but he doesn’t need to,” said Skow.

The California City Police Department said Vinny is a part of a bigger and ongoing investigation when it comes to dog fighting in the area. If you know of any dog fighting taking place, you are urged to contact your local authorities.