Authorities allege that a Cody man kicked a puppy to death after it chewed on some video game equipment last month.

The Park County Attorney’s Office charged 27-year-old Lee T. Jackson with a felony count of aggravated animal cruelty on Friday.

The charge alleges that Jackson killed a 17-week-old puppy on Oct. 21; the Husky/Labrador cross named Luna belonged to Jackson’s girlfriend, according to court records.

On Monday, Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters said Jackson would have to post $7,500 in cash to be released from jail while the case is pending.

“This is a very serious matter,” Waters said.

Deputy Park County Attorney Branden Vilos had asked that bail be set at $15,000 cash — noting, in part, past criminal conduct — while Jackson had asked to be released on his own recognizance.

Jackson said both his past and the allegations against him are “not the greatest,” but he told the judge that “I’m doing everything I can to live a normal life.”

Jackson said he sought out and has been talking with a therapist since the incident.

“I am seeking help for myself, your honor,” he said.

Jackson’s girlfriend called police around 1 p.m. on Oct. 21 to report Luna’s killing and to ask that Jackson be served with a no trespassing order for her A Street residence, Cody police records show.

The girlfriend said she’d been in the shower when she heard Luna yelping, according to an affidavit from Cody Police Officer Rayna Wortham. The girlfriend said that when she asked Jackson what had happened, he said he’d beaten the puppy for chewing on his PS3 controller, according to Wortham’s affidavit.

The officer quotes Jackson as initially telling police a different story — claiming that Luna had a punctured lung and that he put her down in “the same way any normal sane person would put a dog down.” However, Wortham says Jackson later admitted that story was a lie and recalled kicking the puppy after she chewed on some things.

“Lee stated that in his anger, he probably kicked her harder than he should have,” Wortham wrote. “Lee stated that he kicked her out the door and realized that he hurt her because she was bleeding really bad and there was ‘blood everywhere.’”

The puppy’s body — which Jackson had reportedly buried in the yard — was ultimately sent to the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab for a necropsy. Pathologist Todd Cronish concluded that the dog appeared to have died from blunt force trauma, “with massive blunt trauma to the head, thorax and abdomen,” Wortham’s affidavit says.

“According to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, the dog was kicked or stomped multiple times,” Wortham wrote. “The injuries suffered by Luna did not occur from just one kick as Lee (Jackson) had previously told me.”

The necropsy also showed previous injuries to the dog; Jackson’s girlfriend told Wortham the puppy had been hurt about a month earlier, when it got out of the yard and was rolled under a car. The girlfriend said Luna had been kept at a vet’s office overnight for observation and received some medication, but was basically fine, Wortham wrote.

The criminal charge alleges Jackson “did knowingly and with intent to cause death, injury or undue suffering, cruelly beat, torture, torment, injure or mutilate an animal resulting in the death ... of the animal.”

The maximum possible penalty for a conviction of aggravated animal cruelty is two years in prison plus a fine of up to $5,000.

A preliminary hearing to determine whether there’s enough evidence for Jackson to be tried on the allegations is tentatively set for Nov. 15. Jackson, who was arrested at midday Friday, remained in jail on Monday afternoon.