Fridley, MN: Fridley woman accused of killing Chihuahua puppy

Authorities say Holly Boyd threw the
animal against a dresser after a
domestic dispute with her boyfriend
and after the small dog urinated on
her leg and on a couch.

By DAVID CHANEN, Star Tribune

Last update: March 28, 2011 - 9:22 PM

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 w
as arrested Thursday, but is no longer in
jail. She couldn't be reached for comment
Monday.