KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- It's an animal cruelty case that has an entire community really upset. A small terrier is in serious condition at UT Veterinary Clinic. A Knoxville man faces an aggravated animal cruelty charge after police say he dragged a small dog behind his pickup truck.

Jimmy Lovell, 45, of Pilkay Road in West Knoxville is out of jail on bond. Knoxville Police say the small terrier mix was chained to the back of Lovell's truck as he drove down Liberty Road in West Knoxville.

"It had been dragged for quite a distance and actually surprising the animal is even alive," says Darrell DeBusk, with the KPD.

Witnesses say they yelled for Lovell to stop, but he kept driving as the lifeless-looking dog dragged behind.

"That makes me madder than anything to see somebody do a dog like that," says Roy Horst, who was visiting his mother in the neighborhood. He says he and friends tried multiple times to get Lovell's attention. "I think he knew what he was doing."

Janine Davidson answered the door at Lovell's home and says the dog belonged to a girlfriend and had been tied to the truck to keep it out of the road.

"He had it for like a day. It's not like he even remembered he had the dog. He just wished this never happened," says Davidson.

She says Lovell has always been a dog lover, even goes by the nickname "Dog", and would never intentionally hurt the animal. A sign hanging by the front door of the home read, "Dog's House".

"It's just a big mistake an accident and he's as sorry about it as anybody," says Davidson.

Doctors at UT Veterinary Clinic are trying to save this small terrier. "Her fingernails are all worn off, she had skin loss over her most of her breastbone and all four feet. So the wounds were severe," says Patricia Sura, a veterinary surgeon.

She says it could take days or even weeks to realize the extent of the dog's injuries. If the skin doesn't heal on its own, she says skin graphs could be possible.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- A man is facing felony animal cruelty charges for allegedly dragging a small, terrier-type dog behind his vehicle on Liberty Street in Knoxville, according to the Knoxville Police Department.

Jimmy Lovell, 45, is being held on a $2,500 bond.

"According to the witnesses, the suspect was driving a Chevy S-10 pickup and was stopped at the stop sign at Knott Road and Liberty Street with a dog tied to the back of the vehicle," a KPD release states. "The truck pulled from the stop sign onto Liberty Street heading towards Middlebrook Pike and was continuing to pull the dog from behind the vehicle."

Police say witnesses tried to get Lovell to stop. When he finally did stop, KPD says he cursed at the witnesses as he walked to the back of his truck, jerked the dog off of the ground, removed the rope from his truck and threw the dog into the passenger side of his truck. The dog was later found abandoned along Sutherland Ave.

The dog suffered serious injuries and is being treated at UT's College of Veterinary Medicine.