After two hours away, the woman returned to her apartment to find blood on the kitchen floor and her husband wanting to continue fighting about the same thing that made her leave for a breath of fresh air that Friday afternoon in the first place: the dog.

But when she called to the little 5-year-old Maltese and Yorkie mix named Geela – a Hebrew name meaning eternal joy – suddenly 60-year-old Luis Perez, aka Juan Perez, acted in a hurry to leave the apartment.

When the woman found the 3-pound dog covered in blood and feces and unable to move in the bathtub, she knew why.

On Friday, a week after the woman discovered her dog severely injured, Allen County prosecutors formally charged Perez with one felony count of cruelty to an animal, accusing him of beating the dog to the point it needed to be put to sleep.

Perez, who resides in the 3600 block of Brooklyn Avenue, was initially arrested after police were called to the apartment Jan. 15 but posted $2,500 bond shortly after being booked into Allen County Lockup, according to court records.

"(Expletive) that dog," he said while being taken to the Fort Wayne Police Department’s detective bureau for questioning, according to court documents. "She loves that dog more than me."

The woman told police Geela was a therapy dog used to sooth her post traumatic stress disorder and that Perez had been jealous of the animal for a long time. He had chased the dog in anger previously, and she even said she called Animal Care & Control because she feared for the dog’s safety, according to court documents.

She also told police Perez frequently hits things when he’s upset.

The day Perez is accused of injuring the dog, the pair got into a heated argument about Geela.

His wife said she left the apartment at noon to de-escalate the argument.

She returned at 2 p.m. to find the dog in the bathtub, its right leg mangled and a purple bruise on its head. Perez was out the door before police could arrive.

A veterinarian examined the dog and found its leg had a compound fracture and there was bruising on its head, shoulders and other areas.

The dog also exhibited a low body temperature and a high pulse. Then the veterinarian found an abnormal amount of blood in an area around the heart.

That, the vet told police, could have been the result of a tear in the dog’s heart.

Due to the injuries and the dog’s level of pain, the decision was made to euthanize Geela, according to court documents.

When talking to police, Perez’s wife told officers he knew how much the dog meant to her and how devastating it would be to her if the dog came to any harm.

"I should have killed that little (expletive)," he said to an officer en route to the detective bureau, according to court documents.

jeffwiehe@jg.net