US veteran 'tied dog to tree and shot it dead while boyfriend filmed attack'

A veteran in North Carolina has been charged with tying her service dog to a tree and shooting it five times while her soldier boyfriend filmed the killing.

Marinna Rollins, 23, and Jarren Heng, 25, are accused of animal cruelty.

The pair are alleged to have taken Cam, Rollins' PTSD therapy dog, to a wooded area where he was shot at close range before he was buried in a shallow grave, according to arrest documents.

They are also said to have taken photos with the dog in their army uniforms before attacking it.

The couple are alleged to have taken it in turns to shoot the animal and film the attack.

Rollins had reportedly told her Facebook friends on 17 April that she had found a new home for him.

"Sad he has to go, but he will be much happier where he is heading off to," she wrote on Facebook.

Heng replied to Rollins' post with a smiley-face emoji and wrote: "He's going to have such a great new life."

Rollins' husband, who did not want to be named, spoke to The Fayetteville Observer.

He originally adopted Cam, then known as Huey, shortly after separating from Rollins in January last year, the paper reported.

When he was assigned to South Korea, Rollins begged him in tears to keep the dog.

"He feels sick about it now," the newspaper report said.

Rollins, who retired from the army on medical grounds in January this year, also got Cam certified as an emotional support animal for post-traumatic stress disorder.

She had reportedly been diagnosed with additonal mental health issues.