Miami-Dade Animal Services is looking for the person believed to have beaten a small, black terrier with a baseball bat Friday afternoon.
Dog owner Gwendolyn Burns, who lives near where the dog was found, was stunned.
"As an owner, I would be so angry and terrified that something like this has happened," Burns said.
Animal Services said the dog was reported to its office around 1 p.m. outside a home on the 1000 block of Southwest 155th Terrace in southwest Miami-Dade. The dog was found underneath a truck by the agency with severe head trauma.
The department was forced to euthanize the animal, said Kathy Labrada, Miami-Dade Animal Services' enforcement manager.
Labrada said a person on scene told Animal Services they saw a young man with a baseball bat beating the small dog on its head, but that witnesses left the scene before being able to provide additional information.
"It's devastating to think that anyone could be capable of committing such a crime to a helpless animal," Labrada said.
The suspect in this case, if found and convicted, faces felony animal cruelty charges.
Labrada explained that tracking down the culprit is essential because those who assault animals can also assault people. Anyone with information is asked to call 311.
