SILVER SPRING — Residents are deeply shaken after hearing that a Silver Spring police officer, Alec Taylor, has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty and abuse or neglect of an animal.
The officer is reported to have bludgeoned a seven-month-old dog with a mop over and over again.
After the beating, the officer then gripped his hands around the animal’s throat and strangled him until he died, according to reports.
This was reportedly done as a punishment after Rocko, a tiny Jack Russell, could not be potty trained.
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The dog’s owner was dating Officer Taylor at the time.
She trusted the officer to take care of her pet while she was at work — a mistake that proved fatal for the dog.
She says that Officer Taylor texted her at one point while she was away from the home.
She was horrified by what she saw.
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As she looked at her phone, she saw a picture of Rocko’s carcass, she says.
Along with the carcass was a message from Taylor, telling her that he bludgeoned and choked the animal to death because it had an accident on the carpet, she says.
The officer then tossed its body into a parking lot dumpster, according to reports.
Animal medical personnel found that the dog died from liver damage caused by blunt force trauma.
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Taylor has been a police officer for five years.
He was given a suspension after he turned himself in.