VERMILION, Ohio — A dog sitter in Vermilion was charged after he allegedly beat a dog in his care with a wooden paddle for eating another dog’s food.
The incident happened June 23 around 10:30 p.m. at a residence equipped with home surveillance cameras.
According to Vermilion police, the owner later told authorities that he was out with his family on a camping trip and his next door neighbor called him and said he could hear the dog allegedly being beaten by the dog sitter—who was also intoxicated.
The owner gave police the security video that showed the alleged attack.
The video shows the man yelling at a dog named Max and repeatedly hitting with a wooden paddle while the dog cowers in fear, according to police. Max could be heard yelping each time he was hit.
The man was captured on camera hitting the dog in the shoulders and neck and pushing the paddle against the dog’s nose saying, “you want beat again?”
Max’s owner later took him to a veterinarian to get checked out. The vet stated that Max was “unusually skittish and easily frightened”—possibly as a result of the incident, according to police.
An arrest warrant was issued, and the dog sitter was charged with animal cruelty, disorderly conduct persisting and prohibitions concerning companion animals.
