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A Grantsburg man has been charged with slitting the throat of his ex-wife's dog, then leaving the dachshund-spaniel mix to die in her Frederic home.

Brian J. Vanthof, 27, was allegedly angry with his ex-wife for filing a restraining order against him in early May, Polk County District Attorney Karen Olson said Tuesday. To get back at her, Vanthof is accused of breaking into her home early June 4 and using a butcher knife to attack the dog, named Scrappy.

The ex-wife, whose name wasn't released, was not home at the time of the incident.

Olson said she's never seen such a crime.

"We have a lot of domestic violence, but we haven't had anything this ugly and openly cruel, both to the animal and his ex-wife," she said.

According to a Polk County Sheriff's Office report:

A couple of neighbors witnessed Vanthof entering his ex-wife's home just after midnight. When the woman arrived home a few hours later, she found "a lot of blood" on her kitchen floor. She also noticed that Scrappy did not greet her at the door. In a panic, she ran to a neighbor's home and called Frederic police.

The first officer on the scene followed a blood trail that "looked like someone was bleeding to death running around for help." He found the dog in the living room, lying between a coffee table and a couch. The dog was gasping for air and "looking at me and following me with his eyes," the officer noted. The dog's throat had been slit.

The officer found a large butcher knife in the kitchen sink with what appeared to be Scrappy's hair and flesh on it.

During the investigation, Vanthof allegedly text-messaged his ex-wife and called her on the phone. His text message read, "I hope U have a good night."

Frederic police asked Grantsburg police to arrest Vanthof on suspicion of violating his ex-wife's restraining order.

Scrappy was taken to a Grantsburg veterinary hospital for treatment but did not survive the 25-minute ride.

Vanthof was ordered to appear at a preliminary hearing July 3 in Polk County Circuit Court for the felony burglary and animal abuse charges, as well as a misdemeanor charge of violating the restraining order. He was released Tuesday from the Polk County Jail on a $5,000 cash bond.

District Attorney Olson criticized the release of Vanthof on such a small bond.

"I don't intend to look on this lightly. A person who's capable of doing this just out of cruelty, there's every reason to believe that the next step is harm to people," she said.

The director of a Twin Cities domestic abuse shelter said that while shocking, this type of incident is not uncommon.

"The intent of the abusive party is to be able to control their partner. Pets represent something very important to the owner," said Susan Neis of Cornerstone, a shelter for abused women and men in Bloomington. "That level of being so inhumane, that maniacal, it's mind bending.

"This woman is forever going to feel responsible for the death of her pet."