Edward Nudel, 41, was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals after prosecutors said he killed his relative's dog, then called her while she was at work to tell her. View Full Caption DNAinfo

BAY TERRACE — A man strangled his relative's dog after an argument and then complained after he was arrested this week, prosecutors said.

"Am I being arrested for a f----ng dog?" Edward Nudel, 41, asked as he was being detained, a law enforcement source said.

Following an argument with the dog's owner, who is a relative, Nudel called her at work to tell her he'd killed her 2-year-old Pomeranian, Lola, inside her apartment Wednesday, the source said.

Lola's owner called the police, and when officers arrived at her Bay Terrace apartment, they found the door unlocked and Lola lying motionless on a pee pad with her tongue sticking out, the source said.

Nudel was asleep alone in the bedroom when police arrived, the source said. When they woke him up to arrest him, he kicked an officer in the face and shoulder then twisted his body to avoid arrest, according to court papers.

Lola was taken to the South Shore Animal Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Initial reports from the ASCPA's necropsy showed the dog was killed by strangulation, the source said.

Nudel was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, torturing and injuring animals, assault, harassment and resisting arrest at his Thursday arraignment, according to the Staten Island District Attorney's office.

His bail was set at $25,000 and he's being held at Rikers Island, the DA's office said. He's due back in court on Monday.

Information for Nudel's lawyer was not immediately available.