A woman in Siberia is accused of murdering her husband over her pet cat.

According to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the 56-year-old woman told police she was protecting her cat when she stabbed her husband to death.

The couple, who live in the Zakamensky district in East Siberia's Republic of Buryatia, had been drinking heavily at home Feb. 10 when the man grabbed a fire poker and began chasing the cat around, local news agency the Baikal Daily reported.

The unidentified woman grabbed a knife and stabbed her husband three times in the chest, according to local police.

The man died at the scene, Interfax reported.

According to Interfax, the man had said he didn't like the cat, which his wife had taken in earlier this year, and had hit the animal often.

The woman is undergoing a psychological evaluation.