TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A woman is behind bars after authorities found her dog tethered to a post, dead, as a result of the extreme Florida heat.

Lee County deputies were called to a home in Fort Myers Tuesday after receiving a tip that a dog had been left outside, chained to a post as outdoor temperatures crept up.

By the time they arrived, it was already too late. The pit bull mix had already died.

Deputies noticed there was no food, water, or shelter accessible to the animal.

“In fact, there wasn’t even shade where this defenseless dog could get a break from the scorching sun,” the sheriff’s office said.

Detectives soon learned the dog’s owner, 34-year-old Jade Green, tethered her 5-year-old dog, Los, to a pole in the backyard and left the house for several hours to go about her day.

Thermometer readings of the dog measured a 104-degree surface temperature. Detectives said they could not get an accurate internal reading because it was “too high.”

“It sickens me that another defenseless animal was killed due to the incompetence of its owner,” Sheriff Carmine Marceno said. “We will always protect those that cannot protect themselves.”

Los was taken in for a necropsy, though authorities said “it was obvious Los suffered an agonizing death.”

Green was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty and taken to the ‘Marceno Motel.’