An animal cruelty case in which a son killed his parents' dog was one of the worst cases ever seen by Oklahoma City animal control officers, an official with the agency said.

What started as a fight Saturday between Christopher Poston, 25, and his father later escalated into an attack on the family dog, police said.

The dog was stabbed 17 times with a kitchen knife and suffered wounds to its head and chest, said Rodney Pesch, an operations supervisor with the Oklahoma City Animal Control Department.

â€œWe don't see this stuff very oftenâ€ Pesch said. â€œThis is very, very rare.â€