Gerard Butler has found himself at the center of a Michael Vick-esque canine controversy after his pug, Lolita, got into an altercation with a greyhound in New York City this week.

Bauer-Griffin

A local man claims the actor smacked his dog. Butler’s pet pug, Lolita, was allegedly unleashed and approached the greyhound, owned by Fred Varecka, on a Queens street Monday.

“This pug approached us from the right and we pulled our dogs back and we had full control of them. Mayfly (greyhound) got a little closer but he and the pug never came into actual contact and the next thing we knew was Gerard Butler came over shouting: ‘That dog should be put down!’” Varecka, a retired banker, fumed in a chat with RadarOnline Wednesday.

Butler tells a different story. A rep for the star claims Mayfly savagely attacked Lolita, who had to be treated at an Upper East Side vet for her injuries.

“My dog crashed into a fence before ‘yelping’ in pain,” Varecka claims. “I asked him: ‘What did you hit my dog for?’ But he just kept ranting and raving that our dog should be put down – it was unbelievable because the dogs never came into contact at any time.”