McMINNVILLE, Tenn. -- A case of animal abuse in McMinnville has caused outrage and garnered worldwide attention.

Video: Man Accused Of Filing Dog's Teeth Faces Felony Charge

A dog's owner is accused of filing its teeth down to the roots and giving him a beating that left him with a fractured facial bone, and prosecutors want his owner to pay.

Lucas is a little more than a year old and now has a mouth full of fillings, but he's not in pain anymore thanks to a vet in McMinnville who pulled seven of the dog's teeth and performed root canals on 16 others.

"After about two weeks, he is going to be able to eat solid food just like any other dog," said Warren County Humane Society representative Andy Anderson.

The dog's owner, Christopher Barnett, was charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty after filing most of Lucas's teeth down to the root.

"It just made me feel sick that a human could do that to another animal," said Clay Lerch.

Lerch and his wife, Tammy, heard Lucas's story. So they helped start an online petition asking the district attorney to file felony charges. So far, more than 1,700 people have signed the petition, and the support stretches beyond Tennessee and the U.S.

"We heard they were just filing misdemeanor charges, and we felt this crime deserves more punishment than that would get him," Lerch said. "We got some from Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Greece," Lerch said.

The district attorney's office reviewed the case and issued a felony arrest warrant for Barnett's arrest on Thursday.

"With a felony to make sure sometime, someone thinks about abusing an animal that they could eventually face jail time," Lerch said.

Barnett could face up to two years in prison if convicted. He was also charged in 2004 with intentionally killing an animal in Giles County, but he was never convicted of the crime.

The Humane Society received more than $5,000 in donations, of which most will be used to cover Lucas's medical expenses. The rest will be put in a fund to treat abused animals.