Alabama College Athletes Charged With Animal Cruelty After Allegedly Beating Duck With Baseball Bat

Stock photo of a police car. (Shutterstock)

Two former Alabama college athletes were arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty after they allegedly beat a duck with a baseball bat, officials said.

The 19-year-olds, Thomas “Landon” Grant and Jacob Thomas Frye, were charged after they allegedly snatched a duck from a pond on campus and beat it with a bat, before putting it in a bag and bringing it to an apartment to “put it out of its misery” on May 5, reported AL.com.

The student baseball players, who attended Central Alabama Community College in Alexander City, allegedly took the white Muscovy duck after they went to a party.

Alexander City Police Det. Robert Oliver told AL.com the pair then allegedly brought the duck, still in the bag, to woods nearby, before leaving it to die.

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A coach was alerted to the situation after hearing noises, and found the duck still alive in the wooded area, Oliver said.

However, the animal was later euthanized at a veterinarian as its injuries were too severe, reported AL.com.

After the coach informed school officials, police began an investigation and arrested Grant on May 31 on a Class C felony charge, the Alexander City Police Department told People.

Frye turned himself in on June 14 and the pair have been charged with aggravated animal cruelty.

Grant is set to appear in court again in late July.

Police have said more suspects could be charged in connection to the case, as the investigation is still ongoing, according to AL.com.

Multiple Dogs Tortured and Killed

In separate incidents in Franklin County, Vermont, multiple dogs were found tortured and killed in May this year, according to reports.

The Franklin County Humane Society has offered a $1,000 reward for tips relating to the torture and deaths of at least six dogs across the county last month.

“I sat here for a little bit just contemplating and asking why anybody would do this,” Sheldon Animal Control Officer Nicole Michel told NBC5.

“Plastic bags tied over their head, tossed off onto the side of the road. It’s, in every case, torture,” she told the station.

The officer said one dog was found tied to a tree just steps off a popular trail, and it had been shot dead.

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It is unclear if the attacks are related, and the cases are under investigation by Vermont State Police.

Michel says these attacks appear to be an epidemic and it is unfathomable to her.

“I really have no words for someone who could do something so heartless, so cruel,” she told the station. “Dogs are our family.”

“We add dogs to our family, we use them for protection, we should be able to let them run around our property, their home. We can’t do that anymore.”

The officer said she had heard reports of a mystery person attempting to lure unsuspecting animals into their vehicles—reportedly a gold SUV and a silver sedan.

“You hear these cases of abuse and cruelty around Franklin County and everywhere and it’s so tragic when it happens,” Karen Mitchell, Humane Society board member, told NBC5.

Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.