Holly Boyd was already in a bad mood when Fridley police came to her apartment last week to break up a domestic incident involving a male friend with whom she lives. Police advised her friend to hang out someplace else until things cooled down. But 45 minutes later, the friend received a disturbing text from Boyd, according to criminal charges filed Monday.

"The dogs killed. It also broke it's neck I think," she said.

When the friend returned to the apartment, he found their newly purchased Chihuahua puppy in its bed, limp and bleeding from its ear, the charges said. The skull was broken in several places and its bowels protruded from its belly.

Boyd, 28, was charged with felony animal cruelty. She told police she was mad at the puppy because it urinated on her leg and the couch, so she threw it at a dresser in front of her couch, the charges said. Police said she showed no remorse when explaining the dog's death.

Animal cruelty charges are unusual in Anoka County, but a man was recently prosecuted for shooting a dog with a crossbow, said Paul Young, head of the county attorney's office's violent crime division. In St. Paul, a man was convicted in 2008 for throwing a kitten he believed belonged to his girlfriend against a wall. The kitten died, and he received seven months in the workhouse.

Last year, Minneapolis started a program that allows people involved in domestic incidents to bring their animals to the local animal shelter. Police can also bring an animal immediately to the shelter during a domestic incident.

The penalty for felony animal cruelty is up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Boyd was arrested Thursday, but is no longer in jail. She couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

Boyd is accused of killing the puppy about 10 a.m. Thursday. She and her friend had just received the puppy, which was a few weeks old, the complaint said.

When police arrived at their apartment, they asked Boyd's friend to leave because they wanted to break up a domestic situation between him and Boyd, the complaint said. He went to a friend's apartment upstairs and received the text about his puppy's death about 45 minutes later.

Boyd's friend called police and told them his puppy was dead. Officers questioned Boyd, who initially said the puppy ran into the leg of a coffee table, the complaint said. She then admitted she got mad after the puppy urinated on her leg and the couch, "so she picked the dog up and violently threw it" at the hutch/dresser that was in front of the couch, the complaint said.

The puppy hit the hutch/dresser in the handle area and then went limp. She threatened to sue the police for false arrest when they brought her to jail in connection with the puppy's death, the complaint said.

David Chanen • 612-673-4465