A dog was stabbed by a man on the Venice boardwalk today, police said.

Witnesses captured on video said the pooch was a “service dog,” ostensibly for a legally blind person.

The attack happened in the 1300 block of Ocean Front Walk shortly after 7:35 a.m., LAPD Lt. Mark Day told the Weekly: Venice video journalist Tony Vera captured the aftermath on tape:

A suspect, whom Day alleges “also threatened somebody else with a knife,” was in custody today, but his ID was not immediately available.

A witness told Vera this:

Guy was trying to steal my son's skateboard and pulled out the blade this long and stabbed the dog.

Day said he didn't know anything about an alleged theft attempt, however.

The Venice boardwalk area has been inundated in recent years with young transients from the Pacific Northwest. At least some violence last spring and summer was attributed by cops to some of these folks. But this year it has been relatively calm.

The dog, by the way, appeared to be OK.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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