Two hikers were left shocked after finding a distressed German shepherd on the trail with its mouth tied shut with a zip tie — now the dog is in good hands, and authorities are searching for the culprit.

On July 3, two rock climbers were in a remote area near Malibu Creek Canyon when they found a heartbreaking sight: a distressed 7-year-old German shepherd whose muzzle was shut with a zip tie.

They stopped to help the dog, taking the time to gain his trust so they could remove the zip tie. The dog warmed up to them after they freed his mouth and gave him some food.

“He is such a sweet dog,” Jonathan Manaoat, one of the hikers,  “He allowed my friend and I to pet him and he gently ate our food out of our hands.”

They were shocked that the dog had been a victim of such cruelty: “Someone did this intentionally,” Manaoat told the outlet. “They left him stranded, down a hill in the middle of nowhere off the side of the road. They left him suffering. They left him for dead.”

The dog also had inflammation and warts around his body, and its suspected he was exposed to poison oak.