McMINNVILLE, Tenn. -- A Tennessee man accused of filing a dog's teeth almost to its gums appeared in court on Tuesday.

The explanation of the allegations came during dramatic testimony at a hearing in McMinnville, reported WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tenn.

The allegations of abuse of Lucas the dog garnered worldwide attention. The Warren County district attorney said the office has received hundreds of phone calls from around the country in support of Lucas.

Lucas' owner, Chris Barnett, faces felony charges of aggravated animal cruelty. Joy Percell, who testified at the preliminary hearing, said she witnessed the filing on Feb. 16.

She said she was working on a dairy farm where Barnett was renting a home. She said what she saw was sickening.

"I saw him strike the dog several times in a row, and then whatever this thing was he had in his hand, he put in the dog's mouth and then he began to run it back and forth through the dog's mouth. ... Its head was jerking back and forth," she said.

During Tuesday's testimony, some Warren County Humane Association representatives wept.

Maxwell Vincent, who rented the dairy farm, testified to what happened after the beating.

"He picked the dog up about chest high and said, 'See, it's alive.' When he picked it up, a lot of blood came out of its mouth," he said. "And then he picked it up about chest high and then he tossed it back down on the ground."

Vincent said that Barnett told him that he filed the dog's teeth because he was chewing on some wire fencing around the home.

While the defense tried to explain Barnett's behavior, the judge was not sympathetic.

"It was just a sadistic beating," General Sessions Court Judge Larry Ross said. "You don't teach a dog to not chew by beating him and then filing his teeth off."

The case was bound over to a grand jury.

A conviction of aggravated animal abuse could result in a $3,000 fine and two years in prison.