Updated: Prosecutors Allege Woman Threw Chihuahua Puppy to Its Death

A Fridley woman killed a Chihuahua puppy by throwing it at a piece of furniture, the Anoka County Attorney's office alleges in a criminal complaint filed Friday.

According to prosecutors, the dog died March 24 in an apartment on Polk Street. They brought one charge of animal cruelty against Holly Colleen Boyd, 28.

The complaint says that Boyd told Fridley police she got mad at the dog for urinating on her leg and on the couch, then picked up the dog and "violently threw it at at the hutch/dresser that was in front of the couch," causing it to go limp.  

The complaint said police observed no remorse about killing the dog from Boyd, who first claimed the dog had run into the leg of the coffee table and threatened to sue the police for false arrest when they arrested her.

Police arrived on the scene just before 10 a.m. and spoke first to Phillip Archambault, who shares the apartment with Boyd, according to the complaint. He told them that he and Boyd received the weeks-old puppy the night before, and that he had left the apartment 45 minutes earlier after another visit from police due to a domestic dispute, the complaint said.

According to the charge, Archambault said he returned after receiving a text message from Boyd that said, "The dogs killed it also broke it's neck I think" and found the dog limp and bleeding from its ear, with an apparently broken skull.

If convicted, Boyd could face as many as two years in jail or a fine of as much as $5,000. She is scheduled to appear in court April 21.

Efforts to reach Boyd or Archambault by phone Monday afternoon were unsuccessful, and the Anoka County District Court had no attorney for Boyd on file.

UPDATE: Assistant County Attorney Kurt Deile said animal cruelty is on of the "lesser-used" criminal charges in Anoka County simply because "you don't see that much animal cruelty." Deilie said he couldn't recall having prosecuted such a case before.