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Man to be sentenced in puppy, boa animal cruelty case
Michael Struening
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 23, 2007 08:11 PM
A Glendale man will be sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to coating his 3-week-old puppy in cooking oil and feeding it live to an 8-foot long pet boa.
Joseph E. Beadle, 40, will be sentenced in Maricopa County Superior Court at 8:30 a.m. Reports say that Beadle fed the mix-breed puppy to the snake as two 15-year-old boys watched.
Kim Noetzel, Spokesperson for the Animal Humane Society, said that the boys saw the snake bite the puppy, then coil around and begin to suffocate it. advertisement
"One of the boys said he could actually hear the bones breaking," she said.
At that point, reports say that Beadle then removed the puppy from the snake's grasp and poured cooking oil on it, so it would be "easier to swallow." It is unclear at what point the puppy died during the ordeal.
Investigators of the incident found that the snake was also a victim of neglect. The Red-tailed boa was several inches shorter than it should have been due to malnutrition. The snake was removed from the home and is now in the care of the Arizona Herpetological Society.
"The snake was doing what any hungry snake would do," Noetzel said.
Beadle could face up to a year in prison and a $150,000 fine.
Last week, the Animal Humane Society released a list of their 100 worst cases of animal cruelty in 2006. Arizona cases landed three spots on the list.
Noetzel said she thought the Beadle case "would be right up there."
"And what disturbs me even more," she added, "Is that is actually pretty average of what we see on almost a daily basis."
Michael Struening
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 23, 2007 08:11 PM
A Glendale man will be sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to coating his 3-week-old puppy in cooking oil and feeding it live to an 8-foot long pet boa.
Joseph E. Beadle, 40, will be sentenced in Maricopa County Superior Court at 8:30 a.m. Reports say that Beadle fed the mix-breed puppy to the snake as two 15-year-old boys watched.
Kim Noetzel, Spokesperson for the Animal Humane Society, said that the boys saw the snake bite the puppy, then coil around and begin to suffocate it. advertisement
"One of the boys said he could actually hear the bones breaking," she said.
At that point, reports say that Beadle then removed the puppy from the snake's grasp and poured cooking oil on it, so it would be "easier to swallow." It is unclear at what point the puppy died during the ordeal.
Investigators of the incident found that the snake was also a victim of neglect. The Red-tailed boa was several inches shorter than it should have been due to malnutrition. The snake was removed from the home and is now in the care of the Arizona Herpetological Society.
"The snake was doing what any hungry snake would do," Noetzel said.
Beadle could face up to a year in prison and a $150,000 fine.
Last week, the Animal Humane Society released a list of their 100 worst cases of animal cruelty in 2006. Arizona cases landed three spots on the list.
Noetzel said she thought the Beadle case "would be right up there."
"And what disturbs me even more," she added, "Is that is actually pretty average of what we see on almost a daily basis."
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