A South Salt Lake man is accused of slamming his girlfriend’s dog on the floor, telling her, “I am going to kill your dog because you love him more than me.”

The man, 23, was living with his girlfriend on Oct. 27, when he arrived home in the early morning hours after drinking, prosecutors wrote in charges filed Friday. The man decided to sleep on the floor while his girlfriend and her Maltese slept on the bed, charges state.

But then the man became angry and began to yell threats against the dog, police wrote. The man and woman struggled over the dog before the man grabbed it, “held the dog as high as he could and threw him hard onto the floor," prosecutors wrote.

The dog shook as though having a seizure and then died, the charges state.

The woman told police she had owned the dog for 13 years, since it was a puppy.

The man was charged with third-degree felony torture of a companion animal.