Seaside Heights Man Charged With Beating Dog To Death: Prosecutor's Office, SPCA

When the owner of a 10-year-old Bichon Frise dog returned to her Seaside Heights home on the evening of Aug. 19, she found her dog dead on the floor with multiple injuries.

Nicholas Piccolino, 33, Seaside Heights, has been charged with the beating death of the little dog named "Booshu." She died of multiple blunt force injuries to her head and body, according to necropsy results.

When the owner discovered the dog, she reported the incident to Seaside Heights police and said that Piccolino was alone with the dog in her kitchen while she was out.

NJSPCA Detective Sgt. Larry Donato and the Seaside Heights police said an upstairs neighbor reported hearing several loud banging sounds and a dog yelping in the kitchen below, authorities said.

Shortly after, Piccolino notified the dog’s owner and told her that something was wrong with her dog.

"Booshu's owner found the dog dead on the floor of the bathroom," according to a release from the Prosecutor's Office. "Piccolino claimed the dog had "dirtied" herself in her crate and that while he was cleaning up, he dropped her."

Booshu was taken to the Red Bank Animal Hospital, where she was pronounced dead upon arrival. A subsequent necropsy performed on Booshu by Dr. Shannon Swist of the NJ Animal Health Diagnostic Lab found that Booshu suffered multiple blunt force injuries to her head and body, which contributed to her death.

After the Prosecutor's Office reviewed the necropsy photos, Assistant Prosecutor Heidi Tannenbaum-Newman approved third-degree charges of torment, torture and unnecessarily or cruelly beating a living animal, resulting in their death," the release states

Piccolino's bail as set a $35,000. He was taken to the Ocean County Jail in default of bail.

Image: Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.