A woman's beloved puppy is dead and police say the man responsible killed the little dog because he didn't like the way it was looking at him.

It happened Sunday at the man's girlfriend's house on Kenview Avenue in the town of Tonawanda. Police say 24-year-old Marc E. Dash took out his anger on his girlfriend's 10-month-old shih tzu puppy. "He kicked the dog down the stairs," says Town of Tonawanda Lt. Nick Bado, "God only knows what else he did, and he was seen by a neighbor bringing a duffel bag into the house from his car and then returning out to the car with the bag."

Police say the girlfriend eventually opened that bag and found the dog dead. Shih tzu's are relatively small dogs and the one in this case probably weighed only a few pounds. Police say Dash admitted what he did and offered an explanation. "When our detectives interviewed him he said the dog was eyeballing him as if it didn't like him." says Lt. Bado.

Dash is now charged with felony aggravated cruelty to animals. SPCA of Erie County officials say cases like this unfortunately happen all too often. "I wish I could say it's uncommon. Wish I could say this is surprising news but sadly it's not," says Gina Browning, SPCA spokesperson, "We are investigating more than 2,000 animal cruelty complaints a year."

Research shows people who abuse animals are more likely to hurt people too. "There's been a very strong link for decades for animal violence and human violence and of course we're learning more about violence towards animals as a means of domestic violence," says Browning.

The SPCA offers help to domestic violence victims. "We're here to help them and board the animals here for a temporary period," says Browning, "So women can escape that violent situation and not worry what's going to happen with the pets."

Police are not commenting on exactly what they've arrested Mark Dash for in the past, but he could be looking at jail time if he's convicted of felony animal cruelty.