updated 6/19/2009 1:53:48 PM ET 2009-06-19T17:53:48

A 23-year-old woman who got a friend to kill her Jack Russell terrier was charged with skinning the puppy to make a belt out of its hide.

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Krystal Lynn Lewis and Austin Michael Mullins, 26, were being held Friday in the Muskogee County jail on $25,000 bail each. They were charged with one felony count of cruelty to animals.

"We're talking about a 6- or 7-week-old defenseless puppy," said sheriff's deputy George Roberson. "That's pretty heinous and sadistic."

A Muskogee County judge ordered a mental competency hearing for both defendants.

Lewis wanted the puppy, named Poplin, killed because it was a gift from a female ex-lover with whom she doesn't get along, said Muskogee County sheriff's deputy George Roberson.

Roberson said Mullins shot the terrier 10 times with a .22-caliber pistol. Lewis skinned the animal at her apartment and nailed the hide to a board.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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