Juan Garcia, 46, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with animal cruelty for the May 8th attack at a home on Hopper Road.
Eric Enriquez said the 4-year-old pitbull named Bull-lit was like a son to him.
"God sent him to me for me to learn how to be patient with people and how to have more of a kind heart," Enriquez told Eyewitness News.
Enriquez said he was sleeping at the time of the attack but that his aunt witnessed it and quickly filled him in.
According to court documents, one man put the dog in a headlock while Garcia - who Enriquez identifies as his mother's boyfriend - used the sharp edge of a piece of sheet metal to puncture one of the dog's lungs.
"Got to tripping and my dog felt he had to protect himself and they held him down and they stabbed my dog," said Enriquez.
He said he woke up to his aunt's screams and found his dog covered in blood fighting for its life.
"For me to grab my dog and see him bleeding out the way he was bleeding really messed me up, you know what I'm saying. To see the gap size of the hole," he said.
Enriquez said he tried in vain to save Bull-lit, tying a makeshift bandage to stop the bleeding and rushing him to the vet.
"They told me they wouldn't be able to save him, man. That if they did, he'd have a hole sticking out of his lungs like a windpipe so he could breathe."
Garcia appeared in probable cause court Thursday morning where a magistrate declined to set bail.
Records show he has a lengthy criminal history including a stint in prison for aggravated robbery.
Enriquez said Garcia's never gotten along with Bull-lit, who he claims Garcia previously attacked.
"It's never been ying and yang, it's always been against, against, you know what I'm saying," he said.
A warrant has been issued for the man investigators say held down Bull-lit, but records show he hasn't been arrested.