Big Man Punches//Kills Tiny Poodle

I had to sit on this one for a couple days before blogging on it. It really pissed me off. Some former television writer got mad at his 4.5 pound poodle and punched the dog, resulting in the animal's death:

Ted Shuttleworth, who briefly wrote for NYPD Blue, was caught up in his own crime drama on Saturday when he was arrested for killing his poodle. A necropsy found that Shuttleworth's dog Lola died of a brain injury, and police say that the Sunnyside, Queens, man punched her in the head because he was angry at her. Shuttleworth is facing a year in prison, but his wife insists the incident was just "a horrible accident."

The deceased poodle's name was Lola.

My smallest dog weighs around 8 pounds. I worried about damaging her neck with the leash and collar sometimes. Whatever made this guy think he could punch this little creature without causing harm?