Judge: Cop Who Beat Puppy to Death Should Expect Jail Time

A former Baltimore City police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated animal cruelty charges for beating his girlfriend’s puppy to death.

Officers from the Montgomery County Police-Animal Services Division last winter arrested Alec Eugene Taylor of Silver Spring for intentionally and cruelly killing Rocko, a seven-month-old puppy.

Taylor, 28, entered a guilty plea to the felony charge of beating and choking the puppy, and texting his girlfriend a photo of the dog’s body, reports WJLA TV.

A Montgomery County Circuit Court judge told Taylor he should expect jail time when he is sentenced Oct. 8, the TV station reports. The maximum sentence Taylor could face is three years in jail and a $500 fine, although given the officer’s clean record, he could be sentenced to only three months.

The attack happened Feb. 26 at a residence in the 13800 block of Castle Boulevard in Silver Spring. The complainant, Taylor’s girlfriend, said Taylor had beaten and killed their seven-month-old Jack Russell Terrier named Rocko.

Taylor’s attorney, Warren Brown, has said that Taylor is remorseful, contending that the 5-year veteran of the Baltimore department was under a lot of pressure and took his frustrations out on the dog. Brown plans to ask that Taylor receive probation, which would allow his record to be expunged.

An investigation revealed that on Feb. 26 at about 4:30 p.m., Taylor’s girlfriend received a text from Taylor stating that the dog, Rocko, had defecated on the carpet and that Taylor had killed the dog; Taylor also texted a photograph of what appeared to be a lifeless dog.

In a follow-up phone call between the woman and Taylor, Taylor said that he was tired of cleaning up after the dog and that he had beaten the dog with a mop.

During the investigation, Animal Services Division officers also spoke with Taylor. He told investigators he used a mop to force Rocko from behind the dryer and then used his hands to choke the dog.

Necropsy results determined the dog’s cause of death was “acute hemorrhagic shock,” likely due to blood loss from liver damage caused by blunt force trauma, WJLA says.

»Alec Taylor of Silver Spring, a former city of Baltimore police officer, has pleaded guilty to beating and choking his girlfriend’s puppy to death. Credit: WJLA TV screenshot