MARBLE HILL, Mo. (AP) –  Authorities in southeast Missouri are looking for whoever subjected a dog to an especially brutal death.

Bollinger County Sheriff Leo McElrath tells KFVS-TV that someone dragged the pit bull behind a vehicle, tied it to a pole and set it on fire.

The crime was reported by a man who spotted the dog Saturday morning on a county road near Mable Hill.

McElrath says his deputies were sickened by the dog’s condition and buried it where they found it.

The sheriff also says he hopes the death wasn’t associated with a dog-fighting ring.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press