MIAMI (CBS4) – Investigators are trying to solve a brutal case of animal cruelty after they picked up a dog that was severely beaten with a baseball bat.

Miami Dade Animal Services officers were called to the neighborhood near SW 155^th Terrace and SW 111^th Avenue about 1 p.m. Friday afternoon for a report of an injured dog.

When they got to the scene they found a 35 pound mixed breed beaten so badly he had to be euthanized.

“This was just an absolutely horrific act of brutality I mean his skull is smashed,” said Kathy Labrada of Animal Services who described the crime as “the most horrific act of cruelty I’ve ever seen.”  

She said a potential witness told animal services a young man hit the dog multiple times with a baseball bat, but that person left the scene before officers could get any more information.

Avis Keane lives in the neighborhood and says she’s concerned for her dog now.

“It has to be somebody that’s sick,” she said adding, ”I don’t care how old or how young a person is, people have to know right from wrong.”  

Labrada says the dog had no collar or microchip, but she said he was well-groomed and likely someone’s pet.

“There’s no rationale behind of an act of violence like that,  against a dog, against a person against anything,” said Labrada.

If you have any information about the dog or the crime, call 3-1-1.