EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A man has been arrested after attacking his girlfriend's dog with an ax, police said.

Officers were called to the couple's Evansville home in the 1700 block of Illinois Street just before 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

The woman said her boyfriend, Michael A. Hughes, 33, had been drinking and became angry, grabbed and ax and took her pit bull out to a storage shed.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the dog had "several wounds to its back, legs and head" and a "very deep" wound on its head.

Police found Hughes and a bloody ax in one of the home's bedrooms. He fought back against officers as they tried to arrest him, police said.

WFIE-TV reported that the dog was treated at an emergency veterinary clinic.

Hughes was preliminarily charged with animal cruelty and resisting arrest.