Man arrested for felony cruelty to animals.

Deputies tried desperately to save a critically injured dog Wednesday night after responding to a 911 call in the 15000 block of Lucille Court  of Canyon Country that a man had just cut the throat of his own dog with a knife.

After finding the dog struggling to survive in the backyard of a residence, deputies took the dog to the Newhall Creatures Emergency Center in an attempt to help her, but the dog could not be saved. 

Brian Cunningham, 35, of Canyon Country was arrested on a felony charge of cruelty to animals and was booked at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station.  He also had an outstanding warrant and is being held in lieu of $40,000 bail. 

For some undetermined reason, the suspect apparently thought the 13-year-old Labrador Retriever/Terrier mix needed to be euthanised. The investigation is ongoing and there is no further information available at this time.