2 Charged With Beating Dog to Death With Baseball Bat

Man told police he killed the small dog because it was sick

Police have charged two Delaware men with beating a small dog to death in Felton.

But 48-year-old Vernon Slater says he hit the dog on the head Monday with a baseball bat because it was sick and needed to be euthanized. Slater says he did the most humane thing he could have done so that the dog would not suffer any longer.

“It upset me real bad that I had to put her down,” Slater told The News Journal. “In my opinion, I did nothing wrong. I did the most humane thing I could have done.”

Slater said the dog had a tumor that had ruptured and was causing bleeding and pain.

Animal control officers received a report the dog was beaten to death.

Family members led officers to where the dog was buried. They said they could not afford to take the dog to a veterinarian's office to be put down.

Another man, 25-year-old Peter Beddia, was charged with conspiracy in the incident.

The dog, according to court records, belonged to the mother of Beddia’s girlfriend. No motive or reason for the killing was given in the court records.

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