Centereach Man Accused Of Beating Bloodhound Puppy To Death
NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A Centereach has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty after officials say he brutally beat a 7-month-old bloodhound to death.
Edward Semke, 50, was arrested Monday after he told Suffolk County SPCA detectives that he hit and kicked the dog after it ran out of the back gate of his home on Washington Avenue, the SPCA said.
The dog, named Jack, died a short time after the alleged beating. Officials say Semke dug a hole in his bakyard and buried the dog after it died.
Semke gave permission to investigators to dig up the dog's body and it was taken to a local veterinarian to have a necropsy performed, the SPCA said.
The examination revealed that a broken neck caused the puppy to slowly suffocate to death.
"This is a horrific act of animal cruelty," Roy Gross, chief of the Suffolk County SPCA, told 1010 WINS. "The dog suffered a brutal death."
