Images of college students drinking alcohol and images of dogs seem like two of the most common things on social media today. Two students from State University of New York College of Brockport merged them together at a party March 8.

The students have been charged with torturing and injuring an animal after posting a picture of themselves on Twitter holding a dog up over a keg and forcing her to drink from the tap, according to a March 11 USA Today article.  One student was seen holding the dog up and the other student posted the picture on the SUNY Party Stories Twitter account.

The article cited a press release from Brockport Police Department that described the event.

“Through a joint investigation between the SUNY Brockport Police, the Brockport Police Department and the Sweden Dog Warden, it was learned that a dog was held upside down and apparently forced to consume beer from a keg during a party that occurred on Saturday, March 8, 2014 at a house located on Monroe Avenue in the village of Brockport,” the press release said.

Kristin Simon, a senior cruelty case worker at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said young people think they can post photographs of themselves violating the law and see it as funny, when in reality, it’s not.

“I think that’s what makes this the height of idiocy is that they posted a photo online showing what they did to this animal,” Simon said.

The dog was a black Labrador retriever named Mya and has since been returned home.  The Sweden Dog Control held her for a few days to do health tests, but returned her to her owners on March 11 after she was found to be in good condition.

Kathryn Beaumont, a Sweden Dog Control Officer, said that the dog’s owners were not involved with the incident.

John Follaco, SUNY Brockport’s public relations manager, said he can’t reveal information about student disciplinary action because of privacy laws, but added that the students are under investigation by the university.

“We are investigating the matter and we will take appropriate action once the details surrounding the photo are learned,” Follaco said.

According to the Brockport Police Department website, Brockport police arrested Shane P. Oliver and Robert A. Yates and charged them with misdemeanors of torturing and injuring animals under the Agriculture and Markets Law.  The website lists a court date in April, but the investigation is still underway.

“The most important thing that can happen is for charges of cruelty to animals to be filed to set an example,” Simon said. “Our college years are formative years and that’s when we’re learning a lot of hard lessons about the consequences of our actions and I think that this needs to be something that these young men regret for a long time and remember for long time.”

Simon said she has seen instances of people trying to intoxicate animals before, but they usually don’t involve photographs posted on social media.

“I think it’s important that if a person sees anything on Facebook that they think is cruelty to animals or it just feels wrong, they should definitely report it to their local law enforcement and if they aren’t satisfied with the response there, they should reach out to PETA and we’ll look into it,” Simon said.

Published on March 20, 2014 at 12:49 am

Contact: clmoran@syr.edu