Utah woman charged with killing dog by throwing it from a fifth-floor balcony

A Salt Lake City woman has been charged with assaulting her mother and throwing her mother’s dog to its death from a fifth-floor balcony.

The 25-year-old woman was charged in 3rd District Court with torture of a companion animal, a first-degree felony; as well as assault and interfering with police, Class-B misdemeanors.

According to charging documents, on May 25 police found the mother sitting in her car with her dog. The woman’s nose was bleeding and she appeared to have been punched in the face. The dog was not moving or breathing, and the victim told police her daughter threw the dog from a fifth-story balcony.

The mother told police she had attempted to barricade herself in her bedroom, but her daughter forced her way in, assaulted her and then threw the dog to its death. The dog’s breed was not specified.

According to the police officer who arrested the daughter, he saw broken and destroyed items when he entered the apartment, and the suspect resisted arrest “by tensing her arms” and ignoring his commands.

The daughter was already facing a charge of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, and misdemeanor counts including assault and interfering with police after a Nov. 18 arrest. She reportedly attacked and punched her mother, and attacked, bit and strangled her sister. In that case, police wrote that they had to force open a bedroom door and tase the suspect to arrest her.