CLEVELAND — A Cleveland man was charged with three counts of animal cruelty after law enforcement determined he shot and killed his three dogs in a fit of rage after reportedly making threats to his estranged wife.

The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office charged Linus Giles Goodman, 39, with the felony offenses on Tuesday after deputies received a call from his estranged wife. She told deputies she and her husband and been separated for about a month. She accused Goodman of threatening her, but deputies weren’t able to conclude based on evidence that she was threatened, according to Capt. John Sifford.

On Monday, the wife showed deputies a text message she received from her husband with a picture of liquor and a rifle sitting on the top of his truck and another picture of what appeared to be their dogs covered in the bed of his truck. The woman told deputies they had three dogs together — Luke, Cooter and Enos.

Goodman reportedly sent a text that read, “killed the (expletive) dogs,” Sifford said.

A deputy went to the home, located in the 11100 block of Cool Springs Road, to speak with Goodman. He was not there, according to a sheriff’s office report. The deputy could see a dog run in the front yard with no dogs and a fence that contained blood on it. The deputy obtained arrest warrants and served them on Tuesday.

Goodman was issued a $7,500 secured bond and has since been released from the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.