A 17-year-old Nashville teen was arrested on felony animal cruelty charges after he admitted to dragging his dog down a north Nashville street.

It all started this past Saturday afternoon. A woman driving near the Dollar General on Clarksville Pike was distressed and made a 911 call.

What she reported was a teenager kicking a dog and dragging the animal by a chain for close to a mile.

“It had a chain on its neck and he was dragging it, dragging the dog, and the dog wouldn’t walk so he was kicking the dog in the face. ”

Monday morning, the red pit bull, a male estimated to be 3-years-old, was at the MACC facility receiving medical care.

Investigators said the dog’s paws were injured, his eye was bloodshot, and his nose cut. The dog was initially nervous, but then very friendly. He is expected to make a full recovery.

MACC Investigator Ashley Harrington says some juveniles need to be educated on handling animals.

“I wish I had a full answer for you, some of it stems on the education on how to interact and handle animals.”

According to Metro investigators, the 17-year-old and dog were stopped at the north Nashville shopping center.

It’s there that the teen reportedly admitted to the abuse.

“He did. He dragged the pit by the chain, saying the pit didn’t want to walk and then he admitted to striking the dog with the chain as well,” said Harrington.

News 2 spoke to the woman who called for help. She described what she saw.

“The dog still wouldn’t walk. He dragged this dog for almost a mile and a half, just dragging it, and I told him I would call the police. I could not approach him, young people these days, you don’t know they might have guns or whatever, I just knew I had to call the police because I didn’t like it at all. It is horrible, hurt my feelings, he would actually do that to the dog it is just an animal, why would you do that?”

News 2 went to the teen’s home and talk to his father.

“My son is being incarcerated and the dog has been taken,” he says.

When told that News 2 had seen the dog and it looked scared, the father said, “Probably scared because it is in an environment it’s not used to, that’s just common sense.”

When asked if he had anything more to say, he concluded with, “Yeah, you gotta figure out how the hell the government’s gonna get my (expletive) child and my dog back.”

For now, the young man is charged with aggravated animal cruelty. What will become of the dog is not yet known.