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Derick Phanord cried, "I am an animal lover" as he was sentenced to two years in prison for soaking his pit bull with gasoline and setting him on fire in 2007.

According to the Brentwood, Long Island (New York) dog killer's lawyer, Phanord tied the dog to a tree and set it on fire, killing it, because it had bitten Phanord's younger Pit Bull, Red. The dog became known as Maximus after being discovered. Maximus was treated for the severe, painful burn wounds, but later died.

A prosecutor said Phanord's 2-year sentence was the maximum penalty for the animal cruelty charge.

A Suffolk SPCA investigator, Robert Aversano, was leery of Phanord's courtroom display of remorse and his statement that he prayed for the dog after he set it on fire.

"If someone were to douse you with gasoline, light you on fire and then say a prayer afterward it wouldn't go over well in court," said Robert Aversano, the SPCA official.

"My personal opinion is that Mr. Phanord should not be able to own a dog ever again," Aversano said.

Veterinary surgeons named the abandoned, badly-burned dog Maximus during its final hours as they tried to save its life. The dog endeared itself to SPCA and veterinarian rescuers with its gentle manner, licking their hands in apparent gratitude as they comforted and soothed its burned body.

Phanord named the dog Spike, but the dog became publicly known as Maximus before Suffolk police tracked down and arrested the dog's owner.

Red (below), the younger pit bull allegedly bitten by Maximus, was found starving locked in an unvenilated shed and rescued. Red was adopted last September.