To serve and protect

SILVER SPRING, Md. (WJZ) — A Baltimore City police officer is arrested on charges of animal cruelty.

Authorities say Officer Alec Eugene Taylor beat and killed a 7-month-old Jack Russell Terrier.

Taylor reportedly text messaged his girlfriend, saying he killed the dog because it defecated on the carpet. He then sent her a photo of what appeared to be a lifeless dog.

In a phone call, Taylor reportedly told his girlfriend he was tired of cleaning up after the dog and that he beat the animal with a mop.

He later told investigators he used the mop to force the dog out from behind the dryer and then choked it to death with his hands.

Police say Taylor disposed of the dog in a dumpster in the parking lot. His girlfriend later asked him to retrieve the body so she could bury it.

Taylor is charged with aggravated animal cruelty and abuse or neglect of an animal.

The Baltimore Police Department released this statement:

“The Baltimore Police Department is conducting an administrative investigation into the incident contained in the charges filed this morning by the Montgomery County Police Department against Officer Alec Taylor.  Allegations of animal cruelty are taken seriously by the Baltimore Police Department.  Over the course of the last year significant emphasis has been placed on developing and training investigators to handle animal abuse incidents in Baltimore.”

Taylor is a five-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department and will be suspended without pay.