LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A Florida man is accused of abusing a dog before killing it and then placing the animal in an oven.

Deputies were called to 24-year-old Vicasso Lara’s home by a neighbor who said he was making threats.

When detectives responded to the home, deputies found several pools of blood outside and bloody footprints near the rear entrance.

Once detectives began a search warrant of the home, they discovered the body of a dog in the kitchen oven, which had been turned to its highest setting.

Detectives say Lara had stabbed the dog numerous times, then beaten and brutalized the dog prior to having placed it in the oven.

“I’m speechless,” stated Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno. “This is possibly the most brutal and horrific example of animal abuse my team or I have ever seen. We will pursue the absolute maximum punishment for this horrific crime.”

Lara was arrested and charged with torture of an animal, inflicting pain, serious injury, and causing death. He is currently being held without bond.